Mary Rosenthal Lefkowitz ’57

Alumnae Achievement Awards 2008

Professor of Classical Studies

Mary Rosenthal Lefkowitz ’57 is one of the best known and highly respected classical scholars in this country. More than that, Mary Lefkowitz is a public intellectual of the highest caliber. Dr. Lekfowitz returned to her alma mater in 1959 as an Instructor in Greek. After serving in various other academic ranks, she became the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in Humanities in 1979, which she remained until her retirement in 2005. She received her Ph.D in Classical Philology at Radcliffe College (a.k.a Harvard University) in 1961.

Dr. Lefkowitz has written extensively on Greek mythology and has authored numerous books on women in the ancient world. Her articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Times Literary Supplement, The New Republic and The New York Review of Books. Dr. Lefkowitz has appeared on national radio talk shows, on CBS television’s 60 Minutes, and was the subject of interviews in The Boston Globe and The Washington Post.

Her many distinctions include fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Onassis Foundation. In 2004 she received the Radcliffe Graduate Society Medal and was the 2005 recipient of the Wellesley College Faculty Service Award. In 2006 she was awarded a National Humanities Medal “for outstanding excellence in scholarship and teaching.”