Thanks to the generosity of our members, the $10,000 matching challenge offered by the Freeman Foundation has been successfully met, fully funding the Boswell Dissertation Fund and allowing us to award the grant annually beginning in 2014. The Boswell Dissertation Grant joins a growing list of Medieval Academy grants, fellowships and awards.
Many of the donations to the Boswell fund came with fond memories from friends, students and colleagues, such as this from Melissa Conway, Head of Special Collections at the University of California, Riverside:
“John Boswell did more than anyone to insure that all the students working on medieval topics finished their dissertations–whether or not he served on their committees. Through the monthly lunches he hosted at his apartment, he fostered an environment of support and collaboration.
We encouraged one another to finish–and if one of us hit a particularly rough patch in writing (or in life ), John was there to help us through. He was not only a brilliant scholar and an outstanding teacher, but also one of the kindest and most caring of people.”
Donations made to the Academy in Professor Boswell’s honor will of course continue to be accepted; contributions made in honor of Prof. Boswell after 23 May will go into our general Endowment Fund but will be acknowledged as having been given in his name.
The Boswell Dissertation Fund was established in 2006 by a group of Professor Boswell’s friends and colleagues, spear-headed by Ruth Mazo Karras, Adam Kosto and Ralph Hexter. It is a great pleasure for us to thank them, the Freeman Foundation, and all members of the Academy who contributed to this challenge for their generosity in honoring John Boswell in this way.
