ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan philosophy Prof. Kendall Lewis Walton has been named the Romanell-Phi Beta Kappa Professor in Philosophy for 2001-02. As part of the Professorship, Walton will give three Romanell lectures that are open to the general public and academic community. Upcoming lectures are scheduled for Feb. 8 and March 22 at a location to be announced (the first was presented on Oct. 12).

Awarded annually to scholars in the field of philosophy, the Professorship recognizes distinguished achievements as well as the recipient’s contribution or potential contribution to public understanding of philosophy. The Professorship carries a stipend of $7,500. Although the scholar need not be a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the recipient must be on the faculty of an institution with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

The Professorship is made possible by an endowment from Patrick and Edna Romanell. A retired H.Y. Benedict Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso, Patrick Romanell is currently a visiting scholar in the University of Arizona Philosophy Department.

Walton attended Fresno State University and the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a B.A. degree in philosophy. From Cornell University he received a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1967. He is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism and an editorial adviser panel member for the European Journal of Philosophy. The vice president (2001-03) and president-elect (2003-05) of the American Society for Aesthetics, Walton has held the James B. and Grace J. Nelson Professorship (1996-99) and the Charles L. Stevenson Collegiate Professorship (1999-present). Other honors include the Michigan Humanities Award (1998).

Walton titled his first book “Mimesis As Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts” (Harvard University Press). A second book, “Perception, Imagination, and the Arts” (New York: Oxford University Press), is forthcoming. As a lecturer, Walton has spoken nationally and abroad.

Kendall Lewis WaltonJournal of Aesthetics and Art CriticismMimesis As Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts