Yannis Hamilakis, professor of archaeology and Modern Greek Studies, and Tracy Steffes, professor of education and history, were named Guggenheim Fellows on Tuesday.
The fellowship is designed for “mid-career professionals” who have achieved “notable success” in careers spanning the creative arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences, according to the fellowship’s website. Each fellow receives a stipend to pursue advanced independent research, and the value of the stipend is decided based on each researcher’s project.
The members of this year’s cohort — representing the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows — were chosen from a pool of around 3,500 applicants. Hamilakis, Steffes and 196 other individuals were selected following a “rigorous application and peer review process,” the fellowship’s website reads.
Over the past 100 years, the Guggenheim Foundation has awarded upwards of $400 million to over 19,000 individuals, some of whom are Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and Fields medalists.
Upon receiving the fellowship, Hamilakis was “honored and moved,” he wrote in an email to The Herald.
Hamilakis noted that the award comes with “a sense of responsibility to work harder, intensify your efforts (and) do your best.”
They plan to use the stipend to supplement archival research for a new book on the Acropolis — a monumental complex in Athens, Greece — according to a University press release. With the fellowship, Hamilakis will spend a number of months in Athens studying the site’s importance, racialization and monument status.
His book, titled “The Acropolis Otherwise: Undoing Monumental Racecraft,” was first developed in a graduate seminar at the University in fall 2023.
“At a moment when ideas and freedom of expression are under attack, to be offered such an honor for a work that critiques established wisdom and perceptions felt particularly gratifying,” Hamilakis wrote.
Steffes was “surprised, honored and very excited” to win the fellowship, she wrote in an email to The Herald.
The fellowship will allow Steffes to take a full year of academic leave to develop her book, titled “Education Inc.: For-Profit Businesses and the Development of American Public Education.”
The book will explore “the history of for-profit business activities in K-12 education from the mid-19th century to the present era,” the press release states.
Steffes, who chairs the University’s Department of Education, plans to defer her fellowship to the 2026-27 academic year so that she can serve as chair for one more year, according to the press release. She added that she currently finds it difficult to make time for her book due to her teaching and chairing duties.
The fellowship will provide Steffes with the ability to “immerse myself in primary source research without any distractions,” as well as the opportunity to reflect and reevaluate the core concepts of her book, she wrote.
Hamilakis added that they most look forward to “the freedom to develop bold ideas” — and “the sense that what you have done has some value for others, beyond your own field and even beyond academia.”
Correction: This article's headline has been updated to accurately reflect Yannis Hamilakis's department.
Samah Hamid is a senior staff writer at the Herald. She is from Sharon, Massachusetts and plans to concentrate in Biology. In her free time, you can find her taking a nap, reading, or baking a sweet treat.
