Top of the class

Outstanding researchers in psychology, archaeology, law, classics, literature, and history have been recognised by the British Academy in its annual Medals and Prizes ceremony.

Positive psychologist and bestselling author, Martin Seligman, Syriac scholar Sebastian Brock, landscape archaeologist Tony Wilkinson, Welsh law specialist Dafydd Jenkins and critics Frances Wilson and Molly Mahood are some of the influential figures to be honoured by the Academy at a special ceremony this evening.

British Academy medals and prizes have been awarded annually for a hundred years. Prizewinners are selected by expert groups within the distinguished fellowship of the Academy. The prizes will be awarded by the President of the Academy, Sir Adam Roberts.

A new award this year is the Wiley Prize in Psychology, to be presented to the celebrated psychologist and ‘learned helplessness’ expert, Martin Seligman, for lifetime achievement in his field. This prize is made with the generous support of Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons Inc., and awards £5,000 in recognition of excellence in research in psychology.

The Leverhulme medal and prize, worth £5,000, will be awarded to Dr Sebastian Brock for his work on the historic languages and culture of the near east.

A special tribute will also be made to British Academy Fellow, Professor Terence Cave, who was recently awarded the International Balzan Prize 2009, in recognition of his research and teaching over four decades, during which he has published a succession of ground-breaking and original works on Renaissance literature and poetics.

The full list of award winners is included below.

Robin Jackson, Chief Executive and Secretary, the British Academy, said:

'After some very tough decisions, in view of the excellence that exists throughout humanities and social science research, we have a remarkable field of winners for this year's British Academy prizes and medals. These awards are an important way in which the Academy identifies and celebrates the extraordinary quality and influence of research in its disciplines.'

Notes for editors

The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, champions and supports the humanities and social sciences. It aims to inspire, recognise and support excellence and high achievement across the UK and internationally. For more information, please visit www.britac.ac.uk

British Academy medals and prizes 2009 – full list of winners

• The Kenyon Medal for Classical Studies and Archaeology
  Awarded to DR JAMES ADAMS FBA, Senior Research Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford
• The Serena Medal for Italian Studies
  Awarded to PROFESSOR GIORGIO CHITTOLINI, Professor of Medieval History, University of Milan
• The Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies
  Awarded to REVD PROFESSOR ERNEST NICHOLSON FBA, formerly Provost of Oriel College, Oxford
• The Leverhulme Medal for Humanities and Social Sciences
  Awarded to DR SEBASTIAN BROCK FBA, Emeritus Reader in Syriac Studies, University of Oxford, and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
• The Derek Allen Prize
  Awarded to YR ATHRO DAFYDD JENKINS, Emeritus Professor of Legal History and Welsh Law, University of Aberystwyth
• The Wiley Prize in Psychology
  Awarded to PROFESSOR MARTIN SELIGMAN, Albert A Fox Leadership Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the University’s Positive Psychology Center
• The Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Prize for English Language and Literature
  Awarded to PROFESSOR MICHAEL LAPIDGE FBA, Emeritus Fellow, Clare College, Cambridge for The Anglo-Saxon Library (OUP)
• The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for English Literature
  Awarded to FRANCES WILSON for The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth (Faber) and PROFESSOR MOLLY M. MAHOOD for The Poet as Botanist (CUP)
• The John Coles Medal for Landscape Archaeology
  Awarded to PROFESSOR TONY WILKINSON FBA, Professor of Archaeology, Durham University