Carter Center Honors John and Laura Hardman
The Carter Center presented the first Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award for Hope to John and Laura Hardman.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Awards
The Carter Center presented the first Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award for Hope to John and Laura Hardman. The award recognizes the couple for embodying the Carters' compassion, leadership, and action.
Why it matters
The honor recognizes decades of public service connected to the Carter Center and to Atlanta's arts and civic institutions. It marks the first time the Carter Center has presented this award.
John Hardman led the Carter Center as its first CEO for roughly 20 years, from 1993 to 2014. During that period, the center trained more than 25 million farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and expanded worldwide election observation.
The players
Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nonprofit founded by former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter that works on human rights, disease eradication, and election monitoring.
John Hardman
John Hardman was the first CEO of the Carter Center and helped lead its global health and election observation work for two decades.
Laura Hardman
Laura Hardman is a former White House and Carter campaign staffer who has led the Alliance Theatre and Woodruff Arts Center and served as a trustee of Emory University.
Jason Carter
Jason Carter is the grandson of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and currently chairs the Carter Center's board of trustees.
The details
Laura Hardman has worked on Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign and in the White House, and has served as president of the Alliance Theatre and the Woodruff Arts Center and as a trustee of Emory University. John Hardman's tenure also included efforts to reduce Guinea worm disease.
Timeline
• 1993 to 2014: John Hardman serves as the Carter Center's first CEO.
Culture Shift
The award extends the Carter Center's long tradition of honoring public service, following the Carters' own model of linking humanitarian work to civic and cultural leadership. It reflects a broader pattern of recognizing behind-the-scenes institutional builders alongside headline figures.
Readers interested in the Carter Center's programs can follow its public initiatives on global health and election observation. The award itself does not change how the public accesses Carter Center work.
The takeaway
Recognition of institutional builders like the Hardmans highlights how sustained leadership behind the scenes drives large-scale humanitarian progress.
Further reading
Explore more Atlanta awards coverage for context on local honors.
Source note: This article includes information reported by CBS News.
