Athens, Ga. – Jace Weaver, a professor of religion and law and director of the Institute of Native American Studies Program at the University of Georgia, has been named Franklin Professor of Religion and Native American Studies as of July 1.
Weaver, who has been a faculty member in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences since 2002, expressed pleasure with his new position.
“Being named a Franklin Professor is wonderful,” he said. “To be recognized by my college for my work and my standing in Native American Studies is very gratifying.”
Weaver joins a distinguished list of faculty members who are Franklin Professors. Those currently on the faculty and not retired or emeritus are Levon Ambartsumian, music; John Morrow, history; Richard LaFleur, classics; Judith Cofer, English; and Geert-Jan Boons, Gregory Robinson and Michael Duncan, all in chemistry.
Weaver will receive an annual account to be used in support of his research.
“His scholarly contributions to Native American studies and his service to his professional community certainly merit his recognition as a Franklin Professor, and I am delighted he will be joining an elite list of faculty in our college,” said Garnett S. Stokes, dean of the Franklin College.
Weaver earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University, his law degree from the Columbia Law School and a doctoral degree from the Union Theological Seminary.
Weaver began his career as an attorney with Sullivan and Cromwell, followed by several years with another firm, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker, both in New York City. In 1996, he joined the faculty of Yale University, and he served there until coming to UGA in 2002.
He is the author or editor of numerous books and scholarly papers and is on the editorial boards of a number of journals, including the American Indian Culture and Research Journal. He is also on the board of editors of The Cambridge History of Religions in America.
Weaver has presented papers at venues all over the world, and he regularly teaches many different courses in religion and law at UGA, including “The Religious Heritage of the West” and “Native American Cultures.”
He took over directorship of the Institute of Native American Studies in 2004, and under his leadership it has grown and become a key center for examining issues involving Native Americans and their cultures. He is also co-director of the Studies Abroad Vietnam Program and is a member of the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program and the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute.
Weaver is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society for the Study of Native American Religious Traditions, and the Native America and Indigenous Studies Association.
His book, American Indian Literary Nationalism, which he wrote with Craig Womack and Robert Warrior, won the 2007 Bea Medicine Award for Scholarship in American Indian Studies.
