Michael Putnam is an integral part of the Brown Classics Department and the Brown community at large.  Dr. Putnam joined the Brown faculty in 1960 after teaching for a year at Smith College. He was Acting Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies 1961-62 and served as one of its Senior Fellows from 1971 to 1986. In 1963-64 he held a Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome where he was later a Resident (1970) and Mellon Professor in Charge of the Classical School (1989-91). Since 1991 he has been a Trustee of the Academy and a Life Trustee since 2010. He received its Centennial Medal in 2009 and Trustees' Medal in 2010.  Dr. Putnam is the author of numerous articles and reviews. At Brown, as well as chairing the Department of Classics for several periods, he was also a member of the Comparative Literature faculty as well as of the Committee on Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. In 2003 he received the University's John Rowe Workman Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities.

The Paideia Institute for Humanistic Study, Inc. is a non-profit educational organization, founded in 2010, that is “dedicated to promoting the study and appreciation of the classical humanities, with a focus on Latin and Ancient Greek languages and literature.”  The Paideia Institute offers such programs as Living Latin in Rome, Living Greek in Greece, and fellowships for postgraduate study in Rome. They also work with high schools and universities across the U.S. to help “enhance their offerings in classics...and help them develop study-abroad experiences.”

The Gala will take place on Wednesday, May 1, at the University Club in New York, NY.  You can read more information about the Arete Award on the Paideia Institute website.  Join us in congratulating Dr. Michael Putnam on this great honor.