Peter Struck Named Vartan Gregorian Professor of Humanities

Peter Struck, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Classical Studies, has been named Vartan Gregorian Professor of Humanities. A leading scholar of Greek and Roman history of ideas, philosophy, and myth, Struck has published many works, including Birth of the Symbol: Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts, and Divination and Human Nature: A Cognitive History of Intuition in Antiquity. Both works received the prestigious Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit for best book in classical studies. He and Sophia Rosenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History, co-edited A Cultural History of Ideas: Volumes 1–6, which received the 2023 Prose Award for Best Humanities Reference Work from the American Association of Publishers.

Struck has an exceptional history of dedication to service in key departmental and university roles, which include Director of Benjamin Franklin Scholars, Chair of the Department of Classical Studies, Chair of the School of Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee, Chair of the School of Arts & Sciences Continuing Education Committee, and member of both the Provost’s Fellowship Review Committee and Faculty Senate. He was Founder and Co-Director of the National Forum of Liberal Education and Founder and Director of Penn’s Integrated Studies Program.

The chair was established in 2004 by the Annenberg Foundation in honor of Vartan Gregorian, former provost, dean, and faculty member at Penn. The late Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg and Honorable Leonore Annenberg were both emeritus University Trustees. The Annenbergs endowed many chairs in Penn Arts & Sciences and made countless generous contributions to the University. They also founded the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 1958.