Harvard Book Prize

Cardinal Newman College students Harry Burbidge, Amina Kolia and Luke Savage have been selected to receive the prestigious Harvard University book prize for 2024.

Each year only 2,000 institutions worldwide are selected to receive this award, which is then to be presented to students in their first year of studies at the College. The schools and College’s which are selected are deemed by Harvard to be outstanding educational institutions, so the College is extremely proud to be considered so highly by the Ivy League University, having been selected every year since 2016 to be a recipient of this award.

The College is then tasked with finding students who during their first year of studies are “academically excellent with exceptional personal qualities, who make a significant contribution to their school/college or community”. Teachers from across the College were asked to nominate students whom they felt fitted the bill and act as outstanding ambassadors for Cardinal Newman. Principal Nick Burnham then selected the final winning students.

Harry was nominated by both his Economics and German teacher, and both Amina and Luke were nominated by their History teachers and all were nominated for their outstanding contributions to the College community.

Each student was awarded a copy of "The Weirdest People in the World" by Joseph Henrich. This book draws on cutting edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics and evolutionary biology to explore how the Western mind has profoundly shaped the modern world. It explores how culture, institutions, and psychology shape one another, discussing what this means for who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social, political, and economic forces that drive human history.

Well done to all three prize winners!