Benjamin Hoffmann, College of Arts & Sciences Designated Professor of French Literature, has been named Chevalier of the Order of Academic Palmes. This prestigious French honor, founded in 1808, is given to individuals who demonstrate dedicated and valuable service to education.
Professor Hoffmann, inaugural Director of the French Center of Excellence, has been a consistent influence on the promotion of French & Francophone culture, literature, and language at Ohio State and in the Midwest broadly. Professor Hoffmann's most recent projects include a new edition of Montesquieu's De l'Esprit des lois (Gallimard, 2024) and Les Minuscules (Gallimard, 2024). Congratulations to Professor Hoffmann on this well-deserved honor!
Department Chair, Professor Sarah-Grace Heller, said in response to this announcement, "It is such an honor to be recognized with the title of chevalier of the Order of the Palmes Académiques. In every aspect of his teaching and scholarly work, Professor Hoffman truly embodies the Order’s spirit of service. His tireless work establishing and directing Ohio State’s French Center of Excellence has brought many scholars here. His unique brainchild, the Jules Verne Writing Residency, has similarly invited a series of French authors to explore Ohio’s resources and landscape while offering them precious time for creativity. His French Press channel has reviewed and promoted dozens of new books by French-speaking authors. With these, and his own profile as the author of five novels (and counting!), he has extended the sphere of the cutting edge of publishing in French beyond its native boundaries. His work as a scholar of 18th and 19th-century French philosophers and ideal images of the Americas is also exemplary. Congratulations!"
