About the Academy

The CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences was founded in 1981 to foster scholarship and research in CUNY. Sponsored by the University Faculty Senate, the Academy's central concern has been to create a University-wide intellectual community and to encourage and support the scholarship of younger faculty. The Academy is a central feature of university intellectual life.

To these ends, the Academy administers the Feliks Gross Endowment Fund which annually invites submission from assistant professors to a competition, judged by senior faculty. The winners receive a cash award and a plaque in recognition of outstanding scholarship. Recent winners have come from the humanities, social sciences and sciences. In addition, the Academy created the William Stewart Travel Awards, which support travel of young scholars to professional meetings.

Throughout the academic year, the Academy sponsors a variety of lectures, seminars, theatrical events, forums, conferences, debates and presentations of new work. Speakers have included Nobel laureates, faculty from other universities as well as CUNY faculty. The Academy also sponsors the Seminar on Higher Education, the Seminar on the Modern Greek State and the Abraham S. and Paulette Smith Eisenstadt lecture in U.S. History. These events are publicized through mailings and campus based publicity.

The main source of support for the Academy is member dues and endowments. University faculty and staff are invited to join and to propose programs. Wide support from the CUNY community is an essential requisite for the continued success of the Academy, a unique entity in the University.