Brian McHale has been awarded the university’s Distinguished Scholar Award. The Distinguished Scholar Award, established in 1978, recognizes exceptional scholarly accomplishments by senior professors who have compiled a substantial body of research. The award is supported by the Office of Research. Recipients are nominated by their departments and chosen by a committee of senior faculty, including several past recipients of the award. Distinguished Scholars receive a $3,000 honorarium and a research grant of $20,000 to be used over the next three years.

Brian was presented the award by a large contingent of administrators, faculty, students, staff, his wife, friends, and photographers who interrupted his class on Thursday, February 25. Among those presenting the award were Bruce McPheron, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost; Caroline Whitacre, Vice President for Research; Jan Weisenberger, Senior Associate Vice President of Research; David Manderscheid, Executive Dean of Arts and Sciences and Vice Provost; and Peter Hahn, Divisional Dean of Arts and Humanities. Brian’s students seemed just as excited as we were to have him receive this prestigious award and to hear him named "truly a king of postmodernism."

Congratulations to Brian on this well-deserved honor for his highly influential scholarly work on postmodernism, narrative, contemporary poetry, and other topics!