Françoise Meltzer, the Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities, Divinity School, and the College, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She joins four fellow UChicago faculty members and seven alumni in the 2015 class.

“It's a wonderful recognition of one's work, which I take with much gratitude,” said Meltzer. “I'm thrilled to be included, and happy that I will be with so many friends who are also my colleagues.”

One of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies, the Academy has elected “thinkers and doers” since its founding in 1780. Academy members contribute to publications and studies of the humanities, arts, and education; science and technology policy; energy and global security; and social policy and American institutions.

Meltzer studies contemporary critical theory and 19th-century French, English, and German literature. Her publications include Hot Property: The Stakes and Claims of Literary Originality (1994), For Fear of the Fire: Joan of Arc and the Limits of Subjectivity (2001) and Seeing Double: Baudelaire's Modernity (2011). In 2006, Meltzer received the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques (Knight in the Order of the Academic Palms) from the French government, the highest honor for academics in France.

Visit UChicago News for more information on the Academy and other newly elected members with UChicago connections.