Jennifer Summit (born 1965) is an American scholar of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and Renaissance English literature and was a professor of English at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where she was chair of the English department between 2008 and 2011. In 2013, Summit became dean of undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University. Summit is currently the provost at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

Early life and education

Summit is the daughter of Roger K. Summit, founder of Dialog Information Services and Virginia M. Summit, author and former mayor of Los Altos Hills,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. A graduate of Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California), Summit received her AB from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

in 1987, where she graduated with highest honors and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. She was awarded a PhD by

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in 1995.

Career

Summit joined the Stanford faculty in 1995 and was granted tenure in 2001. She became Dean of Undergraduate Education at San Francisco State University in 2014. Summit's work has been supported by the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

and the

Stanford Humanities Center Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...

. She received the Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1998. Her most recent book, ''Action versus Contemplation: Why an Ancient Debate Still Matters'', co-authored with Blakey Vermeule, was published in 2018, and was shortlisted for the Phi Beta Kappa Ralph Waldo Emerson Award.''Memory's Library: Medieval Books in Early Modern England'' (2008), was awarded the Roland H. Bainton Book Prize by the

Sixteenth Century Society and Conference 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. It is the fourth power of two. In English speech, the numbers 16 and 60 are sometimes confused, as they sound similar. Mathematics 16 is the ninth composite number, and a ...

(SCSC) and the John Ben Snow Foundation Book Prize from the North American Conference on British Studies (NCBS). Her first book, ''Lost Property: the Woman Writer and English Literary History, 1380-1589'', was published in 2000. Summit's research interests bridge the medieval and early modern periods and focus on the histories of reading, literature, and knowledge, with a special interest in literacy and the disciplines today.

Published works

* ''Lost Property: the Woman Writer and English Literary History, 1380–1589'' (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2000) * "Rethinking Periodization", a special issue of the ''Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies'' (Duke, 2007), co-edited with David Wallace (U. Penn) ASIN B0021WUW08 * ''Memory's Library: Medieval Books in Early Modern England'' (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2008) * ''The History of British Women's Writing, 1500–1610: Vol 2'' (Palgrave, 2010), co-edited with Caroline Bicks (Boston College) * ''Action versus Contemplation: Why an Ancient Debate Still Matters'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summit, Jennifer 1965 births Living people American medievalists American women medievalists Cultural historians Johns Hopkins University alumni Stanford University Department of English faculty American literary critics American women literary critics Vassar College alumni People from Los Altos Hills, California Historians from California 21st-century American women