The medal, a limited edition silver coin depicting St. Stephen I of Hungary, was issued by Mádl during his presidency to signify the 1,000th anniversary of the Hungarian state. According to Hungarian tradition, Pope Sylvester II in the year 1000 sent a gold crown to St. Stephen blessing him as the first king of the Christian state of Hungary. The “Holy Crown of St. Stephen” was removed from the country in 1945 for safekeeping. It was entrusted to the U.S. government and held in a vault at Fort Knox until 1980, when it was returned to Hungary by then President Jimmy Carter.
The St. Stephen Medal also has been presented to President Carter for his work in returning the Holy Crown to Hungary, and to Emory University Provost Earl Lewis.

President Mádl serves as an adviser to the World Law Institute (WLI) at Emory, and was a keynote speaker at the Conference on World Law and World Health, presented by the WLI in March.

Berman is a Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law at Emory, and is co-director of the WLI. He recently celebrated his 60th anniversary teaching law.