UF anthropology professor chosen as American Academy fellow

April 20, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Maxine L. Margolis, professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Florida, was named a fellow in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences today.

Margolis, also an adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University, is among 210 fellows and 19 foreign honorary members to join one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and a center for independent policy research. The scholars, scientists, jurists, writers, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders come from 28 states and 11 countries and range in age from 33 to 83. They represent universities, museums, national laboratories, private research institutes, businesses, and foundations.

Margolis’ areas of research interest include transnational migration, women’s roles in the U.S., and gender roles cross-culturally. She is a previous recipient of grants and scholarships from the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation and others.

Margolis has been a professor at UF since 1984 and received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from New York University and her doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University.

The new class of fellows and members will be inducted in an Oct. 10 ceremony at the academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

Since its founding by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock and other scholar-patriots, the academy has elected as members the finest minds and most influential leaders from each generation, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill.

The current membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners.