David Levering Lewis (GSAS, '59) captured the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his work, W.E.B. DuBois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963 (Henry Holt and Company), the second of two volumes on DuBois, while John Corigliano (CC, '59) won in the Music category for his Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra.

Lewis' first volume, W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 (Henry Holt and Company, 1994), won the 1994 Pulitzer for Biography. Available records indicate that this is the first time an author has won Pulitzers for two volumes of a multi-volume set.

Lewis's 2000 work traces DuBois' life from 1919 until his death in Ghana in 1963. Lewis is a history professor at Rutgers University.

Corigliano's work was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra on November 30, 2000, at Symphony Hall in Boston. He also won an Academy Award in 2000 for his film score for "The Red Violin," becoming only the second classical composer, after Aaron Copland, to receive the honor.