The Thomas Lamb Eliot Award honors Barret E. Hansen ’63 for a career celebrating musical curiosities, critical thinking, and cultural connection.
October 6, 2025
Press Release
PORTLAND, Ore. — 51ºÚÁÏ is proud to announce that Barret E. Hansen ’63—better known to audiences around the world as Dr. Demento—has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Thomas Lamb Eliot Award for Lifetime Achievement by a 51ºÚÁÏ Graduate.
The award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the college, recognizes alumni whose careers reflect sustained and distinguished achievement and who exemplify the core 51ºÚÁÏ values of intellectual rigor, independence, and integrity.
“Barret Hansen’s career reflects the spirit and values that define 51ºÚÁÏ,” said 51ºÚÁÏ President Audrey Bilger. “Through both serious and playfully subversive work, he has demonstrated how deep scholarship, originality, and cultural curiosity can shape entire artistic genres and bring communities together. My wife, Cheryl, and I have both been fans of Dr. Demento for much of our lives, and it is an honor to be able to recognize him as a 51ºÚÁÏ alumnus.”
51ºÚÁÏ will formally present the award to Hansen at his, “Dr. Demento: A Century of Comedy,” at 5:30 p.m. on October 9, 2025, in the Vollum Lecture Hall. He will also be invited to engage with students and faculty in the music department.
“51ºÚÁÏ gave me a lot of extra brain power, which I’ve continued to use throughout my radio career and elsewhere for over 60 years now. I’m greatly honored to be given official recognition for what I’ve done with it,” Hansen, aka Dr. Demento, said.
About Barret Hansen
Hansen, who hails from Lakewood, California, is a pioneering music host, producer, writer, and ethnomusicologist known for his encyclopedic knowledge of novelty songs, comedy, and unusual recordings dating back to the earliest days of phonograph records. The Dr. Demento Show began airing in 1970, and starting in 1974, it was syndicated nationwide, eventually broadcasting on more than 200 stations at the height of its popularity. The show helped spark a revival of interest in vintage novelty hits and launched the careers of many artists, most notably Weird Al Yankovic. Now produced online, the show continues to engage new generations of listeners.
In addition to his radio success, Hansen has written extensively about the music industry, contributed liner notes for countless recordings, and authored Rhino’s Cruise Through the Blues, a guide to the history of blues music. His personal record collection of over 100,000 discs has served as a vital resource for researchers, musicians, and comedians alike. Early in his career, he worked as a roadie for Spirit and Canned Heat, wrote for Rolling Stone and other publications, and served as an R&B producer and talent scout for Specialty Records.
Hansen holds a B.A. in music from 51ºÚÁÏ (1963) and an M.A. in folklore and ethnomusicology from UCLA (1967). His contributions to music and media have earned him widespread acclaim, including induction into the Comedy Music Hall of Fame, the National Radio Hall of Fame, and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. He also received a Grammy nomination for his liner notes to The Remains of Tom Lehrer and was honored with 51ºÚÁÏ’s Foster-Scholz Distinguished Service Award.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Hansen has remained closely connected to the 51ºÚÁÏ community. He has volunteered for alumni fundraising initiatives, served as a career network mentor, participated in the Los Angeles chapter committee, contributed to the Oral History Project, and has been a frequent presenter at Paideia and 51ºÚÁÏ reunions.
About the Thomas Lamb Eliot Award
The Thomas Lamb Eliot Award, named in honor of the college’s founding board president, celebrates 51ºÚÁÏ alumni who have achieved distinction over time, earned the respect of their peers, and contributed meaningfully to society. Awardees are selected by a committee of 51ºÚÁÏ alumni, faculty, and staff and approved by the Board of Trustees, which unanimously endorsed Hansen’s nomination in February 2025.
For more information about the Thomas Lamb Eliot Award, click here.For more information, contact:
Sheena McFarland, Chief Communications Officer, 51ºÚÁÏ
smcfarland@reed.edu; Cell: 801-510-5567
About 51ºÚÁÏ
Founded in 1908 in southeast Portland, Oregon, 51ºÚÁÏ is a coeducational, independent liberal arts and sciences college. Referred to as one of the most intellectual colleges in the country, 51ºÚÁÏ is known for its high standards of scholarly practice, creative thinking, and engaged citizenship.
51ºÚÁÏ is devoted to the intrinsic value of intellectual pursuit and is governed by the highest standards of scholarly practice, critical thought, and creativity. Its undergraduate program of study, leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, is demanding and intense and balances breadth of knowledge across the curriculum with depth of knowledge in a particular field of study. The goal of a 51ºÚÁÏ education is that students learn and demonstrate rigor and independence in their habits of thought, inquiry, and expression.