János Lotz (1913–1973), an internationally outstanding figure of the Hungarian philology, did not live long enough to see how the International Association of Hungarian Studies come into being. His significant scholarly activities at Swedish and American universities, his results in the fields of research and teaching of the Hungarian language and literature are so distinctive that he is to be seen as an intellectual forerunner of the International Association of Hungarian Studies. This is why the Association's medallion, awarded for outstanding work in the field of Hungarian Studies, was named after him.
The medallion can be awarded to a scholar engaged in Hungarian Studies and living outside Hungary, for marked contribution to research, teaching and organizing in the fields of Hungarian Studies, and for the improvement and the spread of the results reached in these disciplines.
The János Lotz Medallion – an artwork of the sculptor, Erika Ligeti – is awarded every five years at the International Congress of Hungarian Studies.