Joel Conarroe

Joel Conarroe was president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation from 1985 through 2002.  The author of books and articles about American literature and editor of anthologies of poetry, he previously served as Chair of the English Department, University Ombudsman, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.  In addition to serving, for five years, as executive director of the Modern Language Association and editor of PMLA, he has chaired the National Book Awards, and is a former president of the PEN American Center.  The recipient of honorary degrees from several institutions, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in American literature in 1977, was a trustee of the Foundation from 1985 to 2016, and was appointed trustee emeritus on his retirement from the Foundation’s board.