The William H. Welch Medal is awarded to one or more authors of a book (excluding edited volumes) of outstanding scholarly merit in the field of medical history published during the five calendar years preceding the award. Hence, books published during 2022–2026 inclusively will be eligible for the Medal to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine, in Charleston, South Carolina, May 19-23, 2027. No author who has previously won the Welch Medal is eligible for the award. A complete list of previous winners is available here.

The award is named in honor of a major American figure in the history of medicine and public health, who was also one of the first faculty members at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Medal was first presented in 1950 to Henry Sigerist. The chair of the Welch Medal Committee welcomes suggestions of books to consider for the award. Publishers nominating a book must send a copy to each member of the committee. 

Welch Medal Committee 2026-2027

Yan Liu, chair

Nandini Bhattacharya

Melissa Reynolds

Wayne Soon

Congratulations to the 2026 Welch medalist, Melissa Reynolds, for her monograph Reading Practice: The Pursuit of Natural Knowledge from Manuscript to Print published by University of Chicago Press in 2024.

Past Welch Medal Winners