Malala Yousafzai To Receive Harvard Award For Activism

December 01, 2018

The Associated Press

Malala Yousafzai listens as Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust introduces her to reporters at Harvard University in Cambridge, (Jessica Rinaldi, File/AP)

The woman who became a worldwide advocate for educational opportunity after surviving a Taliban assassination attempt is being honored by Harvard University.

Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai will be awarded the 2018 Gleitsman Award at a ceremony Thursday at Harvard's Kennedy School for her work promoting girls' education. The award comes with a $125,000 prize.

Yousafzai became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 when she was recognized at age 17 for her work supporting education for all children.

David Gergen, professor of public service at the Kennedy School, says she "speaks powerfully to the strength and perseverance of women and girls who are oppressed."

She was 15 when she survived the assassination attempt in Pakistan.

Now 21, she's studying at Oxford University.