Abrams delivers talk commemorating fellowship named in his honor. » slide show

Research Triangle Park, N.C.  Celebrating one of its founders as well as one of the nation's leading literary scholars, the National Humanities Center has announced the establishment of the Meyer H. Abrams fellowship for post-doctoral scholarship in the humanities. The Abrams Fellowship will be awarded annually to a scholar working in literary studies. The first recipient of the fellowship, Elizabeth Helsinger, professor of English and Art History at the University of Chicago, will begin work at the Center in the fall.

The Abrams fellowship, which honors Meyer H. Abrams, professor emeritus of Cornell University and co-founder of the National Humanities Center, was endowed by Stephen Weiss, founder and former CEO of the investment management firm of Weiss, Peck & Greer. Weiss is himself a trustee emeritus of the Center, a committed philanthropist, and a distinguished alumnus of Cornell.

Abrams was honored at the Center's spring Board of Trustees dinner April 12th, where he delivered a talk entitled, "On Reading Poems Aloud." A video of the talk can be seen below.*

Videographer: Davis Stillson

"Meyer Abrams's vision, intellect, and energy were invaluable in the National Humanities Center's origination, and provide continuing inspiration for other humanists to this day," says Geoffrey Harpham, President and Director of the Center. Besides his work as teacher and mentor at Cornell, Abrams has been a leader and standard bearer among literary critics. Among his many notable books, The Mirror and the Lamp, is considered one of the finest critical works produced during the twentieth century. And, under Abrams's editorship, the Norton Anthology of English Literature has become a common primer for undergraduate literary study across the U.S.

» View a slide show of photographs from the April 12th event.
   Photos: Ron Jautz.

*To view this video you will need the Adobe Flash Player, available for free download.