Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Profile

Marilynne Robinson is among the most decorated and consequential living writers in America.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and one of the most influential figures in the history of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she shaped a generation of writers over her 25-year tenure as the F. Wendell Miller Professor of English and Creative Writing. In her time at Iowa, she significantly enhanced the university’s academic stature, cultural influence, and global reputation as the nation’s premier writing university. 

Robinson’s distinguished literary career reflects the highest level of scholarly and artistic achievement. Her body of work has been recognized with the most prestigious honors in American letters, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Library of Congress Prize for Fiction.

An author of five novels, Robinson has been awarded the highest distinctions possible in the literary world—and some outside of that world, too. In 2013, former President Barack Obama awarded Robinson the National Humanities Medal and described her novels as life-changing. 

Robinson’s dedication to teaching and mentorship has molded countless students and scholars. In addition to her service at Iowa, she has held visiting appointments and writer-in-residence roles at institutions such as Amherst College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s MFA Program for Poets and Writers, further amplifying the university’s national and international standing. Her contributions have been recognized with 16 honorary degrees, including from Boston College, Yale University, and the University of Iowa.