Six Princeton faculty members and arts fellows, 9 alumni receive Guggenheim Fellowships
Six Princeton faculty members and arts fellows have received 2025 Guggenheim Fellowships supporting scholars in the creative arts, social sciences, natural sciences and humanities. This year’s recipients are Maria Chudnovsky, Thomas Conlan, yuniya edi kwon, Rhodri Lewis, Carolyn Rouse and Peter S. Shin.
Undergraduate and graduate alumni Laura Beers ’00, Angela Esterhammer *90, Kellen Funk *18, Katherine Ludwig Jansen *95, Katie Kitamura ’99, Annette Yoshiko Reed *02, Accra Shepp ’84, James Morton Turner *04 and Carla Williams ’86 also received Guggenheim Fellowships.
The Princetonians are among 198 American and Canadian scholars selected to receive Guggenheims, which recognize both “prior career achievement and exceptional promise," according to the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation announcement. This year marks the 100th class of fellows.
Faculty recipients
Maria Chudnovsky, professor of mathematics and the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics, was awarded the Guggenheim in the field of mathematics.
Chudnovsky’s research focuses on graph theory and combinatorics. This spring she is teaching the graduate seminar, “Topics in Discrete Mathematics: Structure Theorems and Algorithms.” She earned her Ph.D. at Princeton in 2003 and joined the University as a professor in 2015; she was an assistant professor for the 2005-06 academic year.
Thomas Conlan, professor of East Asian studies and history, was awarded the Guggenheim in the field of Asian studies.
Conlan’s scholarship focuses on medieval Japanese history. This spring he is teaching the undergraduate course “Living in Japan’s 16th century” and the graduate seminar “The Warrior Culture of Japan.” He joined Princeton in 2013.
Rhodri Lewis, senior research scholar in English and lecturer with the rank of professor in English, was awarded the Guggenheim in the field of literary criticism.
Lewis’ scholarship focuses on the literary, cultural and intellectual histories of the 16th and 17th centuries. This spring he is teaching the undergraduate course “Rewriting the World: Literatures in English, 1350-1850.” He joined Princeton in 2017.
Carolyn Rouse, the Ritter Professor of Anthropology, was awarded the Guggenheim in the field of anthropology.
Rouse’s research focuses on development and education, medical anthropology, religion, race, resistance, social inequality and visualizing complex ethnographic data. This spring she is teaching the graduate seminar “Field Research Practicum.” She is also a documentary filmmaker. She joined Princeton in 2000.
Arts fellows recipients
yuniya edi kwon, a 2023-25 Princeton Arts Fellow in the Lewis Center for the Arts and the Department of Music, was awarded the Guggenheim in the field of music composition.
Kwon is a composer, violinist, vocalist and interdisciplinary artist. This spring she is teaching the undergraduate course “Cultivating a Transdisciplinary Performance Practice,” cross-listed in dance, music, theater and visual arts.
Peter S. Shin, a 2025-26 Hodder Fellow in the Lewis Center for the Arts, was awarded the Guggenheim in the field of music composition.
Shin is a composer whose music interweaves Korean and American themes and influences. His yearlong project as a Hodder Fellow is a composition for the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth.
Alumni recipients
- Laura Beers, a member of the Class of 2000, for intellectual and cultural history;
- Angela Esterhammer, a 1990 graduate alumna, for English literature;
- Kellen Funk, a 2018 graduate alumnus, for law;
- Katherine Ludwig Jansen, a 1995 graduate alumna, for medieval and early modern studies;
- Katie Kitamura, a member of the Class of 1999, for fiction;
- Annette Yoshiko Reed, a 2002 graduate alumna, for religion;
- Accra Shepp, a member of the Class of 1984, for photography;
- James Morton Turner, a 2004 graduate alumnus, for the history of science, technology and economics;
- Carla Williams, a member of the Class of 1986, for photography.