Governor Eric Holcomb announced Friday he will award the state's highest honor to Eva Mozes Kor, a Holocaust survivor and founder of the CANDLES Holocaust Museum.
The Sachem Award is granted each year to one person recognized for "a lifetime of excellence and moral virtue that has brought credit and honor to Indiana."
"Eva is the living embodiment of true compassion," Gov. Holcomb said in a statement. "Her life proves there are no bounds on forgiveness and human decency. Eva shows us what our response should be to acts of bigotry and hatred through her daily mission to educate people and spread messages of peace, respect and civility."
"It is an honor and privilege to receive this award," Kor said in a statement. "My mission in life is to teach the world to heal from the wounds of the past. This will create peace."
Kor will become the first woman to receive the honor since 2008. Indiana's Governor has selected a recipient each year since the honor was revived in 2005, except for 2016.
Holcomb will present Kor with the Sachem Award at a ceremony on April 13.