Skip to main content

In the Founder’s Footsteps

Recipients of annual Thomas Jefferson Medals sustain his ideals

On the 269th anniversary of Jefferson's birth, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation invoked the fields of his greatest works—citizen leadership, law and architecture—and honored three individuals who made valuable contributions to them.


Internationally acclaimed Spanish architect Rafael Moneo received the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture. During a talk at the UVA School of Architecture, Moneo praised the "clear ethical direction" Jefferson established in his work, which Moneo honors in functional modern spaces that reflect their natural and man-made surroundings.


George Mitchell, recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law, reminded an audience at the UVA Law School that there is "a never-ending tension between the preservation of order and the rights of the individual." A former U.S. Senator, Mitchell traveled to Northern Ireland to negotiate a ceasefire agreement between government officials and the Irish Republican Army, for which he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.


Jessica Tuchman Mathews, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, received the foundation's Medal in Citizen Leadership. She spoke at Monticello on Jefferson's birthday of the significant work America must do to meet challenges posed within its borders and beyond.