Two American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals are awarded each year by the academy for distinguished achievement.
The two awards are taken in rotation from these categories: The Academy voted in 1915 to establish an additional Gold Medal for "special distinction" to be given for the entire work of the recipient who is not a member of the academy.
[1] The first of these occasional lifetime achievement gold medals was awarded in the next year to former Harvard President, Charles Eliot.
[2] Awards in individual categories are listed below (in alphabetical order) followed by a list of all prizes in reverse chronological order:Source:[3] Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters List of Awards[16]