Distributed January 9, 2002
For Immediate Release
News Service Contact: Mary Jo Curtis



Scholes to lead Modern Language Association of America

Robert Scholes, professor emeritus of modern culture and media, has been elected second vice president of the Modern Language Association of America, designating him as the association’s vice president in 2003 and president in 2004.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Robert Scholes, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities emeritus and professor emeritus of modern culture and media at Brown University, has been elected second vice president of the Modern Language Association of America for 2002. This election designates Scholes as the association’s vice president for 2003 and its president for 2004.

Scholes is the author and editor of numerous books, periodicals and articles, including his most recent book, The Crafty Reader (Yale, 2001). He received an A.B. from Yale in 1950 and completed his graduate work at Cornell (M.A., 1956; Ph.D., 1959). Prior to joining the Brown faculty in 1970, Scholes taught at the University of Virginia and the University of Iowa. At Brown he taught courses in modernism, modern literature, art, opera and thought. He retired from full-time teaching in 1999.

Scholes is the recipient of many academic awards and honors, including Guggenheim and Mellon fellowships (1977 and 1983, respectively), the Francis A. March Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession of English (2000) and an honorary doctorate from Université Lumiere Lyon (1987). He is a past president of the Semiotic Society of America (1989-90) and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998. He has been a member of the MLA Executive Council since 1997.

Now a research professor in Modern Culture and Media, Scholes directs the Modernist Journals Project and lectures at various universities. He is also editing an online edition of The New Age magazine and is working on a hypertext version of Robert Coover’s short novel Briar Rose. For the past several years he has been working with the College Board and other education organizations to develop Pacesetter English, a new course in English for all high school students.

The Modern Language Association of America has more than 30,000 members in 100 countries, with programs serving English and foreign language teachers. Playing a leadership role in the national education community, the organization holds an annual convention in late December, hosting meetings on a wide variety of subjects and seminars across the country. The MLA International Bibliography, the only comprehensive bibliography in language and literature, is available in print, online, on CD-ROM and via the Internet. The association sponsors 130 discussion groups and divisions for specialized scholarly and teaching interests of its members and has 45 membership committees overseeing its activities and publications.

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