English professor honored
1 min readBy RYAN GREENWOOD
University of Mary Washington English professor Benjamin LaBreche was recently awarded a Solmsen Fellowship, allowing him a year of research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institute for Research in Humanities.
During his fellowship, LaBreche will research John Milton and seventeenth century political theories of liberty and how they are relevant today. LaBreche is currently writing a book on the subject.
LaBreche applied for seven fellowships this year and was surprised to discover that he was one of the few to actually receive the award. LaBreche has also received fellowships from the Folger Institute and the Mellon Foundation, as well as UMW’s own Jepson fellowship, which LaBreche believes was “one of the most useful.”
“[I am] happy to be able to participate in the general need to learn. It’s good for faculty to be encouraged to continue their own learning; that helps greatly with being able to give students guidance,” said LaBreche.” “People say ‘time is money,’ but academics say ‘money is time,’ so I’m very thankful for this opportunity.”
“Seeing Dr. LaBreche’s dedication to this subject is an encouragement and proves that dedication and the love of the subject pays off,” said junior English major Eric Turner.
LaBreche leaves for Madison, WI in August 2013 and will be returning to UMW in August 2014.
