Religion professor Peter Schafer is one of four recipients of the Andrew Mellon Foundation's Distinguished Achievement Award, a three-year, $1.5 million prize that honors scholars who have made significant contributions to humanistic inquiry.
Schafer, a renowned scholar of Judaic studies, is the fifth University professor to win the prestigious honor in six years.
Until he received the award, Schafer was not aware he had even been nominated.
"I got a letter from FedEx in the mail one day," Schafer recalled in an interview. "When I first got it, I thought that it was another request from the Mellon Foundation for me to write a recommendation letter for a colleague."
"I set the letter aside and didn't open it for a while. When I finally opened it, I discovered what it was and was in complete shock."
Schafer received the letter in October, but the foundation did not make the winners public until December. In the interim, Schafer had to keep the award secret from everyone except President Tilghman and Dean of the Faculty David Dobkin. Both wrote a letter to the foundation to formally accept the award on behalf of Schafer and the University.
A portion of the award will cover Schafer's salary for the next three years. With the money the University saves from not paying him, Schafer said he hopes to establish a new chair in the Old Testament.
"We have no permanent professorship in this area, which I think is a pity," he said. "The Old Testament is one of the most important books of civilization."
Though the award will last only three years, Schafer said he is trying to convince the University to continue funding an Old Testament professor for the long term.
The remaining prize money — which must be used within the next three years — will go to Schafer's research efforts. He plans to establish a program that invites postdoctoral fellows to come to the University for three years to teach courses in Israeli studies.
"The idea is to have young people at the University who do different things — things we don't yet do here," Schafer said. "They will supplement our curriculum with fresh ideas."
Schafer said the award will allow him to spend more time outside the classroom.
"Professors tend to be stuck sometimes in their teaching," he said. "This will give me the resources to develop something new."
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