Roslyn Weiss, professor of philosophy, has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for the 2021 year. She is among 184 artists, writers, scholars, and scientists to receive this year’s award. An expert in ancient philosophy, Weiss is recognized by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for her work on Plato. Her current project, for which she was awarded the fellowship, focuses on the first book of Plato's Republic.
"Here Socrates, in his idiosyncratic way, tries to get his interlocutors to appreciate that being just is life-enhancing, that, even though it is true that just people 'finish last,' nevertheless, there is no life as good as the just one," explains Weiss.
Candidates for this year’s fellowship were chosen through a rigorous peer-review process from nearly 3,000 applicants.
"We are thrilled by Dr. Weiss' success in earning the Guggenheim Fellowship. Her ability to produce scholarship that's highly admired and valued by her peers has long been clear. It's fitting that she would be selected through the foundation's extraordinarily rigorous and selective review process," said Alan Snyder, vice president and associate provost for research and graduate studies. "Over and above the standards of scholarship that merit a Guggenheim Fellowship, Dr. Weiss is also a wonderful citizen of the Lehigh academic community - intellectually generous and supportive of the next generation of scholars. It's therefore particularly satisfying that she is recognized in this way."
Weiss joined Lehigh University as an associate professor in 1991 and was named the Clara H. Stewardson professor of philosophy in 1999. In addition to ancient philosophy, she also specializes in medieval Jewish philosophy. She has published five books in addition to many book chapters and articles.
“My colleagues and I are delighted with Roslyn's receipt of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Roslyn is an exceptional scholar and colleague and I admire her persistence in creating and maintaining a strong intellectual atmosphere in the college. Roslyn's scholarly contributions are a critical component of the intellectual foundation that will enable us to nurture and build a strong and enduring community of scholars in the college and her receipt of this prestigious award is important recognition of her life's work at Lehigh,” said Robert Flowers, Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Created in 1925 by Senator Simon and Olga Guggenheim in memory of their son John Simon Guggenheim, the Foundation has offered fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions.
"It has been a special joy to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship at this time in my life, as I approach retirement. More than signaling appreciation for my current project, the award at this stage of my career also recognizes a lifetime of effort devoted to the study of one of the greatest thinkers of all time — Plato. It has been a great privilege to spend these many years in Plato's company and in conversation with the rich secondary literature that goes back centuries, and to belong to a community of scholars, past and present, who experience the same awe as I do when reading and grappling with Plato's works," said Weiss.
