Richard Wright, Associate Professor of Geography and Chair of the Geography Department, was awarded one of this year's Guggenheim Fellowships -- for Geography and Environmental Studies -- on Friday for the pursuit of his research topic "Immigrants and the Rhetoric of Assimilation."
Wright is the only faculty member of the College to be awarded a Guggenheim fellowship this year.
Wright said he submitted his statement of planned research and was notified six weeks ago that his name would be presented to the Guggenheim's Board of Trustees on April 8.
"My work the last six years has been on immigration," Wright said. "What I proposed was writing a book on immigration and the rhetoric of assimilation."
"I've had a long-term research project on how immigrants affect the migration patterns of natives," he said.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation offers fellowships to artists and scholars who wish to engage in the creation of any of the arts or pursue research in any field of knowledge. The program aims to provide the freest possible conditions for its fellows and selects those fellows irrespective of race, color and creed.
Fellows are selected for their impressive past achievements and "exceptional promise for future accomplishment."
The 1998 Committee of Selection chose 168 Fellows from 3,014 applicants for awards totaling $5,376,000. Each Fellow receives an average stipend of $32,000.
While a sabbatical is not mandatory for Fellows, most do take time off to pursue their research in late April.
Wright said the Guggenheim is "a big deal" for him because it will allow him to take the year off -- something few fellowships do.
The Guggenheim Foundation was established by Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife in 1925 in memory of their son, who died at age 17.
While the United States and Canadian Fellows were announced on Friday, those who reside in Latin American and Caribbean countries will be announced at a later date.
