Bernardo de Gálvez Award

This award recognizes the work of U.S. individuals or institutions who have contributed to increasing reciprocal awareness between Spain and the United States.

The Bernardo de Gálvez Award honors and acknowledges efforts by American citizens and/or institutions whose work, example and dedication have fostered cooperation between Spain and the United States and contributed to enhancing reciprocal awareness or strengthening the relations between the two countries.

The award is named after the man who was the Governor of Louisiana and Viceroy of New Spain, Malaga statesman and military man, Bernardo de Gálvez (1746 – 1786), founder of the city of Galveston, Texas and a decisive figure in the triumph of George Washington’s armies in the thirteen colonies’ War of Independence. His contribution to the birth of the new country was recognized in 2014 when he was given honorary United States citizenship.

Previous recipients include former Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson; the Hispanic Society of America; Art History Professor, Dr. Jonathan Brown; former U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Richard Gardner; Senator Bob Menéndez; Ford Motor Company; Senator and 2016 U.S. Vice Presidential candidate, Tim Kaine; Hispanist Stanley G. Payne, the Library of Congress and, in its last edition, the SMU Meadows Museum Dallas.