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.