Whitehead Receives Order of Merit Presentation From King of England

His Majesty King George VI of England has awarded the coveted Order of Merit to Alfred North Whitehead, professor of Philosophy, emeritus and senior fellow of the Society of Fellows, the British Consulate General's Office announced yesterday. Whitehead taught philosophy at Harvard from 1924 to 1937.

The Order of Merit is an honor, conferred by the King on men and women of outstanding achievement. In the customary fashion, Whitehead was notified of his nomination in advance by letter and was asked to send his formal acceptance. His name was then included in the Honors List published in the London gazette of New York's Day. There will be no presentation ceremony.

The 24 living persons who have received the Order include David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England during the last war; Augustus John, one of the world's outstanding portrait painters; and Professor Gilbert Murray, eminent Greek scholar and active in the League of Nations. Whitehead, the most recently honored, is an author and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.