On November 29, 2004, he was awarded with the second Kluge Prize (shared with Jaroslav Pelikan).

Historian and fraternity brother John Hope Franklin was an early beneficiary of the publishing company and was the 2006 Kluge Prize recipient for lifetime achievement in the study of humanity.

The Kluge Prize would honor lifetime intellectual achievement in the same way as the Kennedy Center Honors recognize lifetime achievement in the performing arts.

On March 1, 2007, Paul Simon was announced as the first recipient of the new award, which joins other awards bestowed by the Library including the Living Legend and Kluge Prize.

The Kluge Center's official opening also paves the way for the award of the new $1 million Kluge Prize for Lifetime Intellectual Achievement.

In addition, his gift established a $1 million dollar Kluge Prize to be given in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in the human sciences.

Endowed by Library benefactor John W. Kluge, the Kluge Prize rewards lifetime achievement in the study of humanity with focus on disciplines not recognized by Nobel prizes.

The main criterion for a recipient of the Kluge Prize is deep intellectual accomplishment in the human sciences.

Jaroslav Pelikan, 82, American historian of Christianity, winner of the Kluge Prize in the Human Sciences, lung cancer.

The library solicited nominations for the Kluge Prize from more than 2,000 people.