The Sarton Medals have been awarded by the Sarton Committee on behalf of the American History of Science Society since 1955. They are awarded each year to scholars who have exceptionally distinguished themselves in the field of history of science. Each year, the Sarton Committee awards only one medal per faculty to the entire international community. The Sarton Medal is a lifetime achievement award and the most prestigious award presented by the History of Science Society.
Eric Moormann was professor of Classical Archaeology at Radboud University from 2002 to 2021, after which he retired. He has been engaged in research on the history of science of archaeology for decades, with a strong emphasis on German archaeologist and art theorist Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768) and his role within the discipline. He also published extensively on the history of research in the Vesuvius cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and is considered an eminent specialist of the reception history of the Ancient World.
Moormann is also a prominent member of the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft, several years of which he has been a member of its curatorium. Since his first publication on Winckelmann (a book with Hein van Dolen in 1993), he has written extensively on Winckelmann's life and work, most recently in Queer Archaeology. An essay on Winckelmann and the French writer, philosopher and art critic Denis Diderot (1713-1784) is forthcoming. He is also researching the relationship between Winckelmann and the French archaeologist, collector and art theorist, comte de Caylus (1692-1765), the subject of his lecture at the award ceremony.