Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to present an award at the Smithsonian’s “Portrait of a Nation” gala.
Clinton will be presenting the award to Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, whom Clinton has referred to as her “hero and mentor,” the Smithsonian announced Tuesday, noting that each presenter has a special relationship with their honoree.
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“It is important to honor and celebrate the people who are making a difference and inspiring others,” Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, said in a statement. “The presenters, each of whom have a special relationship with the honorees, help us to offer meaningful thanks to this year’s awardees for their significant contributions to our nation.”
Clinton, who recently announced a new series on Apple TV, has been friends with Edelman for over 50 years, dating back to the time she served on the board of the Children’s Defense Fund in the 1970s. Edelman once said that although the duo were friends, they were “not friends in politics” after Hillary’s husband former President Bill Clinton signed a welfare reform bill that Edelman claimed hurt millions of U.S. children.
Hillary Clinton chaired the Children’s Defense Fund from 1986 until 1992, when she stepped down due to Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. She is also a former U.S. senator from New York and the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016 who lost to Donald Trump.
White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, tennis star sisters Venus and Serena Williams, director Ava DuVernay, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and record executive Clive Davis, whose award will be presented by singer Alicia Keys, will be honored at the event. The portrait of each honoree will be hung in a special exhibition from Nov. 10 to Oct. 22, 2023.
Earlier this month Fauci announced he will resign from his government positions in December after five decades in public service. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, chief of the NIAID’s Laboratory of Immunoregulation, and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden.
“While I am moving on from my current positions, I am not retiring,” Fauci said. “After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field. I want to use what I have learned as NIAID director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats.”
Serena Williams announced this month that she is retiring from the sport professionally but will remain devoted to the sport in other aspects. Her formal retirement is expected after the U.S. Open, which begins next week.
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The gala honors “extraordinary individuals who have made a transformative impact on the US and its people, across all fields of endeavor from the arts and sciences,” the Smithsonian said in a release.
Comedian Baratunde Thurston will host the gala, scheduled for Nov. 12, at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
