Three faculty receive Guggenheim Fellowships

Three professors at UW–Madison have received 2005 fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, a New York organization devoted to furthering the development of scholars and artists.

Richard E. Goodkin, professor of French; Theresa M. Kelley, Marjorie and Lorin Tiefenthaler Professor of English; and David Sorkin, Frances and Laurence Weinstein Professor of Jewish Studies; are among the 185 new fellows from the U.S. and Canada announced April 7 by the foundation. The fellowships come with grants that vary in size, but average about $35,000 per individual.

Goodkin received a fellowship to study “personality in early modern French comedy and fiction.” Kelley’s award will further her research on botany and romantic culture. Sorkin, who also is director of the UW–Madison Institute for Research in the Humanities, will investigate “six faces of the religious Enlightenment, from 1689-1789.”

Fellowships are designed to give scholars and artists the flexibility to pursue creative endeavors across a wide range of disciplines, including writing, performing arts, humanities scholarship or scientific research. The awards were established in 1925 by the family of former U.S. Sen. John Simon Guggenheim.