Hoosier Educator to Receive Presidential Attention

Malti-Douglas will be honored September 10 at a White House ceremony

A retired Indiana University professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author has been named one of 10 National Humanities Medal recipients by President Obama. The school says Martha C. Kraft Emerita Professor of Humanities Fedwa Malti-Douglas is noted for Arabic letter studies and applying her insights to American culture.

She is the author of "The Starr Report Disrobed," which earned her a Pulitzer Prize and nine other scholarly books.

Malti-Douglas said she was shocked by the announcement of winning the medal. "I would like to see this honor as validation for my constantly seeking to tread new intellectual paths, to swim in new cultural waters and to explore unmapped territories. I have always felt that life is learning."

She is working to complete a memoir and is beginning to write her third novel.

IU President Michael McRobbie calls Malti-Douglas a "most deserving recipient" and says "Fedwa’s extensive body of work has contributed deeply to a greater understanding of central questions of gender equality, cultural identity, religion and much more, and is in the very best tradition of the liberal arts and humanities heritage of Indiana University."

The award has been around since 1996 and of 163 individual recipients, Malti-Douglas is the third IU faculty member.

Another winner, Everett Fly, also has an IU connection. His next book will be published next year by Indiana University Press.