Stanley Kunitz, American Poet
Stanley Kunitz was destined to be a poet. Kunitz once said, “There was so much joy in playing with the language that I couldn’t...
Jackie Robinson, Baseball Pioneer
Jackie Robinson was an accomplished multi-sport athlete who in 1947 became the first black baseball player in the modern major leagues. He displayed courage...
Maimonides, Jewish Philosopher and Theologian
Maimonides’ ability to harmonize philosophies of the Greco-Roman, medieval Western, Jewish and Islamic civilizations in the context of his own religious beliefs has established...
Mary Lyon, Champion of Women’s Higher Education
Mary Lyon was a progressive educator and pioneer of women’s higher education. In 1837 she founded the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley,...
J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of “The Lord of the Rings”
Philologist and English professor J.R.R. Tolkien popularized an entire genre of literature when he wrote his fantasy epic “The Lord of the Rings,” a...
Leo Szilard, Physicist and Contributor to the Manhattan Project
Leo Szilard, the Hungarian Jewish physicist, molecular biologist and inventor, worked on the Manhattan Project but expressed himself as a “scientist of conscience,” using...
Edmund Hillary, First Man to Summit Mt. Everest
An explorer at heart, humble New Zealand beekeeper Edmund Hillary became the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest in 1953, and...
Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize-Winning Author
Toni Morrison grew up in a house of African-American storytellers and developed a love for books. After earning a masters degree in English and...
Joan Miró, Surrealist Painter and Abstract Artist
A man who worked in many styles and mediums, Joan Miró is regarded as one of Spain’s best abstract artists. He’s known for pushing...
Catherine Hughes, Radio and TV Executive
From a high school dropout and single teenaged mother to the first woman owner of a number one radio station and the first African-American...
