Distinguished Professor of Art History Samantha Baskind can add another honor to her long list of accolades over the course of her professional journey.

She was recently elected to the American Academy for Jewish Research (AAJR), an honor and lifetime appointment based on a scholar’s accomplishments and influence, much like the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Medieval Academy to name a few.

Founded in 1920, the AAJR Fellowship is composed of the most eminent scholars of Jewish Studies in North America. The Academy also sponsors workshops for graduate students and early-career scholars, while providing fellowships for doctoral students, and awarding the annual Salo Baron Prize for the best first book in Jewish studies.

Upon receiving word that she had been selected, Baskind said it was a complete surprise.

“I am tremendously honored to be elected as a Fellow,” she said. “I have long admired many of the esteemed AAJR Fellows [and] and some scholars I have avidly read since graduate school. I am humbled that the fellows have recognized my research and see me as a peer.”

Each year, a committee chooses up to five new fellows, taking into consideration each candidate's research productivity with an emphasis on work that is innovative, field-creating and building. 

Baskind is the author of five books and over 100 articles and reviews. An active public scholar, her articles in the mainstream press have appeared in TIME, Smithsonian Magazine and the Washington Post, among others. She served as editor for U.S. art for the 22-volume revised edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, art editor for AJS Perspectives, and is currently series editor of “Dimyonot: Jews and the Cultural Imagination,” published by the Pennsylvania State University Press.

Baskind has curated exhibitions for the Skirball Museum in Cincinnati, American Jewish Museum in Pittsburgh, Bernard Heller Museum in New York City, Galleries at CSU, and the Jerusalem Biennale. Her research has been funded by many sources, including the American Council of Learned Societies, Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, and two year-long fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“Professor Baskind was recognized for her role in fostering and successfully integrating the field of American Jewish art in the field of American Studies,” said Magda Teter, professor of history at Fordham University and President of AAJR.