Spingarn Medal

The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for an outstanding achievement by an African American.

The award was created in 1914 by Joel Elias Spingarn, chairman of the board of directors of the NAACP.

[1] The gold medal is valued at $100, and Spingarn left $20,000 (equivalent to $438,000 in 2023) in his will for the NAACP to continue giving it indefinitely.

[2] NAACP recognizes Dr. Laurencin's seminal and singular accomplishments in tissue regeneration, biomaterials science, nanotechnology, and regenerative engineering, a field he founded.

His fundamental contributions to materials science and engineering include introducing nanotechnology into the biomaterials field for regeneration.