The UVA Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy is pleased to welcome Jonathan Eig to Grounds on September 26 where he will receive the Rodel Institute’s 2024 Edwards Book Award for his recent biography, King: A Life. 

Batten is co-hosting this year’s award ceremony with the institute, where Batten Dean Ian Solomon serves on the board and is a member of the Edwards Book Award Committee.

“Martin Luther King Jr.’s example of leadership to bridge divides offers valuable lessons for all of us working to build a more just, equal, and loving society,” Solomon said. “It is an honor to welcome biographer Jonathan Eig and the Rodel Institute to UVA Grounds to celebrate Dr. King’s life and Eig’s brilliant book.”

Eig is an American journalist and biographer whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other leading magazines and newspapers. His previous books include Ali: A Life (2017) and The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution (2014). In addition to winning the Edwards Books Award, King: A Life won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for biography.

Event details:

• 3 – 4 p.m.: Book signing, Garrett Hall 
• 4 – 5:30 p.m.: Presentation of award and conversation with Batten Dean Ian Solomon, followed by a Q&A; Garrett Hall
• A reception at the nearby Colonnade Club will follow