Carl Ernst, William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, will be inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on Oct.10.
One of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies, the organization celebrates pioneering research and scholarship, artistic achievement and exemplary service to society.
The 212 new fellows and 19 foreign honorary members are leaders in research, scholarship, business, the arts and public affairs. They come from 28 states and 11 countries and range in age from 33 to 83. This year’s group includes Nobel laureates and recipients of the Pulitzer and Pritzker prizes, MacArthur Fellowships, Academy, Grammy and Tony awards and the National Medal of Arts.
The ceremony will also include actor James Earl Jones and singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris reading from the letters of John and Abigail Adams.
Ernst specializes in Islamic studies, with a focus on West and South Asia.
He received a Guggenheim Fellowship this year to support his translation and
study of the poetry of al-Hallaj, the Sufi martyr who was executed in Baghdad in 922. And the
Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology awarded him the Farabi
International Award in the Humanities for his 1996 book on the 12th-century
Persian Sufi Ruzbihan Baqli.
He was elected to the American Society for the Study of Religion in 1996 and has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Fulbright program and other overseas research organizations.
His most recent book, Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World (UNC Press, 2003), has received several international awards, including the 2004 Bashrahil Prize for Outstanding Cultural Achievement.
At Carolina since 1992, he earned his doctorate in religion from Harvard University in 1981.
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. Current Academy research focuses on science and technology policy, global security, social policy, the humanities and culture and education.
With headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., the Academy’s work is advanced by its 4,600 elected members, who are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business and public affairs from around the world.
