Joy Connolly Joins the Samuel H. Kress Foundation’s Board of Trustees
The Samuel H. Kress Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Joy Connolly to its Board of Trustees. A distinguished scholar of Roman political thought and literature, and a leading voice in the advancement of the humanities, Connolly brings to the Foundation a wealth of experience in higher education leadership and an enduring commitment to the public value of the humanities.
Connolly currently serves as President of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), a position she has held since 2019. Since she arrived at ACLS, Connolly has emphasized the importance of securing the future of humanistic inquiry through increased funding and stronger academic infrastructure. Under her leadership, ACLS has expanded its activities to include programming for humanist administrators, public humanities, and open books publishing.
“Joy is an eloquent advocate for the humanities and a visionary leader in the field,” said Carmela V. Franklin, Chair of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Board of Trustees. “Her passion for fostering humanistic scholarship that engages with the world aligns closely with the mission and values of the Kress Foundation. We are honored to welcome her to the Board.”
Prior to joining ACLS, Connolly served as Provost and Interim President of The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, where she was also Distinguished Professor of Classics. She has held faculty appointments at New York University, where she served as Dean for the Humanities from 2012-16, Stanford University, and the University of Washington. She has published extensively on Roman rhetoric and political theory, including two books with Princeton University Press, and has written widely for both academic and public audiences. She speaks and writes regularly about the future of the humanities and the necessity of public funding for higher education as a keystone of a robust democracy. Her current book, tentatively entitled All the World’s Pasts, argues for a transregional, transcultural approach to the study of ancient societies on a global scale.
Connolly’s current board and advisory group service includes the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Humanities Alliance, the National Humanities Center and the Journal for the History of Ideas. She is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Classical Studies.
Connolly earned a BA from Princeton University and a PhD in Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. In recognition of her scholarly contributions, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.