For Immediate Release
May 16, 2017
Media Contact:
Erica Bogese
Communications Manager
(202) 749-8978
bogesee@doaks.org
WASHINGTON – Jan Ziolkowski, Director of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection and Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Medieval Latin at Harvard University, was elected to the American Philosophical Society. The American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States, was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge.” The Society has inducted 5,573 members since its inception.
Ziolkowski (A.B. Princeton University, Ph.D. University of Cambridge) focuses his research and teaching on the literature of the Latin Middle Ages. Since at Harvard, he has chaired the Department of Comparative Literature and the Committee on Medieval Studies, in addition to the Department of the Classics. Since 2007, Ziolkowski also directs Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, a Harvard institute in Washington, D.C., with programs in Byzantine Studies, Pre-Columbian Studies, and Garden and Landscape Studies.
In addition to his work at Dumbarton Oaks, Ziolkowski continues to teach courses at Harvard, lecture around the world, and write prolifically, having authored about 100 journal articles and 22 books. As the general editor of the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series, Ziolkowski works to make more widely available works of Byzantine and medieval culture. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, Ziolkowski advocates for the humanities in many forums and has grown the research capacity of Dumbarton Oaks, while advancing public outreach to the Washington, DC community.
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About Dumbarton Oaks:
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection is the legacy of Robert and Mildred Woods Bliss, collectors and patrons of art and scholarship in the humanities. The multiple aspects of the Blisses’ gift include historic gardens and buildings, world-class collections for researchers and the public to enjoy, and generous support for fellowships and scholarly endeavors on the local, national, and international levels. Dumbarton Oaks is a research institute of Harvard University that exists to further and publish research in the three areas of study: Byzantine Studies, Pre-Columbian Studies, and Garden and Landscape Studies. Residential fellowships for an academic year, semester, or summer are awarded in all three areas of study to scholars from around the world. In addition, Dumbarton Oaks offers one-month non-residential awards to researchers and short-term pre-doctoral residencies to advanced graduate students. Each of the three programs of study supports and disseminates research in its relevant fields through an annual symposium; a program of public lectures, informal talks, and colloquia; and publications. The Dumbarton Oaks Museum contains the Byzantine Collection, one of the finest collections of artifacts from the Byzantine Empire with more than twelve hundred objects from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries. The Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art is housed in the Pre-Columbian Pavilion, designed by architect Philip Johnson. This collection comprises objects from the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica, the Intermediate Area, and the Andes. The House Collection consists primarily of the historic interiors, Asian, European and American artworks, and interior furnishings. Ten acres of formal gardens surround the 1801 Federal-style house. Mildred Barnes Bliss worked closely with renowned landscape designer Beatrix Farrand to transform the land surrounding the house into terraced gardens and vistas. The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library has extensive holdings in our three dedicated areas of study and the Rare Book Collection is strong on works of landscape architecture, botany, and horticulture, while also reflecting the research focus of Dumbarton Oaks. The Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives (ICFA) documents and preserves material from fieldwork and the Dumbarton Oaks Archives inventories, conserves, stores, and makes accessible the institute’s past, current, and future records and artifacts.