Russell Peck, the John Hall Deane Professor of English, will be presented with the 2015 Medieval Academy’s Robert L. Kindrick-CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies, on Friday, March 13, at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
“Peck has made extraordinarily important contributions to the field of medieval studies,” said Lisa Davis, executive director of the Medieval Academy. “We are very pleased to be able to honor his work in this way.” The Kindrick-CARA Award is presented annually to a member of the organization for their leadership in developing, organizing, and sponsoring work in medieval studies.
Peck has been a faculty member at the University for 54 years, during which time he has received several commendations, including the nationally prestigious Professor of the Year Gold Medal 1985 (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) and the University’s Goergen Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 1985-86, he convinced Rossell Hope Robbins to give to the University of Rochester his large collection of medieval books, along with a substantial endowment, which became, in 1987, the foundation of the Robbins Library for Medieval Studies. With the Robbins Library in place, Peck was able to establish The Middle English Texts Series and gain grant support from The National Endowment for the Humanities for the past 20 years. This series of scholarly publications is currently at 78 volumes in print, in addition to 500 texts available online in an open access platform.
“It’s wonderful that our efforts are being felicitously acknowledged by so distinguished an organization as the Medieval Academy of America,” said Peck. “Being named the 2015 recipient of the Kindrick-CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies is a truly thrilling honor, a tribute not only to me and the Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages, but to the Middle English Texts Series.”
For more information about Peck and his contributions to both the University and field of medieval studies, visit http://www.rochester.edu/College/ENG/peck/.
