The Robert A. Muh Award was first announced in October 2000 at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

Robert A. Muh (S.B. 1959 in management), a life member of the MIT Corporation and longtime chair of the Humanities Visiting Committee, endowed the award to honor an MIT alum who has made significant contributions to education, scholarship or performance, academic administration or arts management in the humanities, arts or social sciences.