The Huntington Library in San Marino is one of the world’s greatest sources for independent research in the humanities, with documents and artifacts that span 11 centuries. Scholars from more than 30 nations visit its reading rooms or tap into its digital services.
Each year, the library awards 15 long-term fellowships for high-quality research. Of those, six are named distinguished fellows, an honor for exceptional work in their field of study.
This year, two of those six are from UC Merced.
History Professor Susan Amussen was named the Fletcher Jones Foundation Distinguished Fellow in the 2024-25 fellowship cohort. Art History and Visual Studies Professor ShiPu Wang was named the Hannah and Russel Kully Distinguished Fellow in American Art.
Amussen and Wang are UC Merced’s first distinguished fellows, an honor bestowed only by invitation. Only twice before in the last 20 years have two distinguished fellows hailed from one university in the same cohort. In both cases, it was Princeton University.
The 207-acre complex known simply as The Huntington, about five miles from downtown Pasadena, includes, in addition to the research library, a stunning collection of themed botanical gardens and an art museum that features more than five centuries of British, European, American and Asian art.
“Distinguished fellows are invited to The Huntington not only for their scholarly excellence but for their record as generous mentors and conveners of conversation,” said Susan Juster, W.M. Keck Foundation Director of Research at The Huntington. “We are fortunate to have two such outstanding scholars in residence this year from the University of California, Merced.”
Other UC Merced professors have earned Huntington fellowships over the years. History Professor Kevin Dawson received the Kemble Fellowship in Maritime History in the 2022-23 cohort. Several faculty members have held short-term fellowships to use the library’s collections.
Amussen, the UC Merced Presidential Chair in the Humanities and a faculty member since 2008, earned The Huntington distinguished fellowship with her study of patriarchy in early modern Britain and the British Empire. Wang, UC Merced’s Coats Family Chair in the Arts and a founding faculty member of the Global Arts Studies program, is using The Huntington’s resources to study American Modernism through Asian American collectives in pre-World War II California.
A great advantage of The Huntington, Amussen said, “is not just the extraordinary collections of books and manuscripts, but the opportunity to work with others whose knowledge and interests complement yours. Also, the chance to walk in one of the great botanical gardens each day is a wonderful benefit.”
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