Dennis Tenen receives Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences today announced this year’s winners of the Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award. Established in 2005 from a gift by late University Trustee Gerry Lenfest, the annual award recognizes faculty excellence in teaching, research, and mentorship across the Arts and Sciences.
This year’s awardees include world-renowned scholars, groundbreaking artists, researchers on the cutting edge of scientific discovery, and long-time Arts and Sciences faculty whose ideas and service have profoundly shaped their departments and students.
“It is the highest honor we bestow upon individual faculty,” noted members of the Executive Committee of Arts and Sciences, which includes the Dean and Executive Vice President of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of Columbia College, and the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The award also “serves as a powerful reminder of the rigorous scholarship, creative energy, selfless commitment to students, and dedication to our community that are the hallmark of Lenfest awardees.”
The Executive Committee issued a call for nominations in Fall 2025 and selected the finalists in early 2026. In addition to significant professional recognition, the award carries an unrestricted stipend for a period of three years.
Dennis Yi Tenen – Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and ICLS Executive Committee member
- For innovative scholarship in the areas of computational humanities, the history and theory of media, and literary theory and methods, his varied and original pedagogy in the classroom, his commitment to student mentorship and hands-on learning, and his leadership in crafting partnerships that extend beyond the Arts and Sciences.
