Cantor, Norman F.

The Albert Schweitzer Chair covers the disciplines of comparative literature and the history of ideas. Professors who have held this position have traditionally emphasized through their scholarship and teaching an emphasis on the relevance of the humanities to present-day concerns and the nature and quality of interracial awareness.

At New York University a faculty committee was formed to select the first Albert Schweitzer Professor. The committee chose Conor Cruise O'Brien, who was announced as the inaugural Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities on June 2, 1965. Professor O'Brien held the chair from 1965 to 1969. Following O'Brien's term, Ralph Ellison held the chair from 1971 to 1979. Professor Aileen Ward held the position from 1979-1990.

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