Glen W. Bowersock, professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, has been named a knight of the French Legion of Honor.
The Legion of Honor is an order of merit given by the French government. Begun by Emperor Napoleon I in 1802, it is one of France’s most prestigious awards, and the country’s highest civilian honor.
It is conferred upon men and women, who may be French citizens or foreigners, for outstanding achievements in military or civil life. The citation notes Professor Bowersock’s "important contribution to French-American cultural cooperation."
Professor Bowersock was also recently named an honorary fellow of Balliol College, Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar from 1957 to 1959.
Professor Bowersock, whose field is ancient history, has written or edited over a dozen books and published nearly 300 articles on Greek, Roman and Near Eastern history and culture, as well as the classical tradition in modern literature. Among his works are "Augustus and the Greek World" (1965), "Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire" (1969), "Julian the Apostate" (1978), "Roman Arabia," "Hellenism in Late Antiquity" (1990), "Studies on the Eastern Roman Empire" (1994) and "Selected Papers on Late Antiquity" (2000).
He co-edited, with Peter Brown and Oleg Grabar, "Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World" (1999).
A graduate of Harvard University, Professor Bowersock received his master’s and doctoral degrees from Oxford University.
He taught ancient history at Balliol, Magdalen and New College, Oxford, from 1960 to 1962, when he joined the faculty of Harvard University. At Harvard, he was professor of classics and history, as well as chairman of the Department of Classics from 1972 to 1977 and associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1977 to 1980.
He has been at the institute since 1980.