Phi Beta Kappa Society :: Visiting Scholars

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Visiting Scholar Program

The Visiting Scholar Program makes available every year a dozen or so distinguished scholars. The men and women participating during 2009-2010 will visit 48 colleges and universities, spending two days at each one, meeting informally with students and faculty members, taking part in classroom discussions, and giving a public lecture open to the entire academic community. The visits are designed primarily for undergraduate participation.

The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of the campus by making possible an exchange of ideas between the Visiting Scholars and the resident faculty and students. A total of 4,736 visits have been made by the 565 Visiting Scholars who have taken part in the program during the past 53 years. You may view a history of the Visiting Scholar Program here (PDF).

Participation is limited to the 280 campuses that shelter chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. Priority is given to those institutions not located in major metropolitan centers or that do not have extensive resources on which to draw for similar programs.

You may view a list of all Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars since the program’s inception in 1956 here (PDF).

The Committee on the Visiting Scholar Program is pleased to announce the 2010-2011 panel, which is listed below. Invitations should not be sent directly to the visiting scholars. If you are interested in bringing one of the scholars to your campus, please get in touch with the secretary or president of the local Phi Beta Kappa chapter so that your preference can be considered by the chapter when applying for a visitor. Applications for the 2010-2011 program must be received at the national office by April 15, 2010.

Please review all procedural information before requesting a visiting scholar. Questions about the program should be addressed to the Director of Lecture Programs.

Visiting Scholars 2010-2011

(Click on the scholar's name for a biographical sketch and available dates.)

Terry Castle
Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities, Stanford University

Rochel Gelman
Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University

Jane C. Ginsburg
Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law, Columbia University School of Law

Herbert Gintis
External Professor, Santa Fe Institute; Professor of Economics, Central European University

Jack A. Goldstone
Virginia E. and John T. Hazel Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

Doug McAdam
Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

Michael McCormick
Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History, Harvard University

Ronald J. Mellor
Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles

Lisa M. Pratt
Provost's Professor of Geological Sciences, Indiana University

Kay Kaufman Shelemay
G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University; 2010-2011 PBK-Frank M. Updike Memorial Scholar

Peter Smith
Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science, University of Arizona

Visiting Scholars 2009-2010

(Click on the scholar's name for a biographical sketch and itinerary.)

Thomas Bender
University Professor of the Humanities and Professor of History, New York University

John H. Coatsworth
Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Jean Comaroff
Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and Social Sciences, University of Chicago, 2009-2010 Phi Beta Kappa/Frank M. Updike Memorial Scholar

Elaine Fuchs
Lancefield Professor in Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, Rockefeller University

Linda Gordon
Florence Kelley Professor of History, New York University

John G. Hildebrand
Regents Professor of Neurobiology, University of Arizona

Catharine A. MacKinnon
Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law, University of Michigan

Doug McAdam
Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

Andrew Odlyzko
Professor of Mathematics, University of Minnesota

Stephen Owen
James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University

Lisa M. Pratt
Professor of Geological Sciences, Indiana University

Alan Ryan
Warden, New College, University of Oxford

Visiting Scholars 2008-2009

You may view a chronological listing of visits on the Online Calendar here.
(Click on the scholar's name for a biographical sketch and itinerary.)

Eric Adelberger
Professor of Physics, University of Washington

Elaine K. Gazda
Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology, University of Michigan

Philip D. Gingerich
Case Collegiate Professor of Paleontology, University of Michigan

Faye Ginsburg
Kriser Professor of Anthropology, New York University

Linda Gordon
Professor of History, New York University

Robert Haselkorn
Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago

Loch K. Johnson
Regents Professor of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia

Anne K. Mellor
Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles

Betty Smocovitis
Professor of History and Zoology, University of Florida

Anna Tsing
Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz

William A. Wulf
University Professor and AT&T Professor of Engineering, University of Virginia