Longtime Loyola Professor Receives 2021 Distinguished Editor Award

Loyola University Maryland Professor of English Jean Lee Cole, Ph.D., recently received the 2021 Distinguished Editor Award by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ). She was unanimously selected for her editorship of the academic journal American Periodicals, which she edited from 2015-20.

The CELJ award recognizes Cole for bringing more visibility to American Periodicals while making the publication more inclusive. 

“Cole also committed herself to using editorial work as a means to foster intellectual community, especially by making mentorship of younger scholars a regular part of the review process. In so doing, she also brought numerous and diverse voices into the three main activities of the journal’s enterprise, submissions, review, and publication,” CELJ wrote. “In sum, Cole’s tireless work on American Periodicals and her efforts to make publishing more equitable and inclusive distinguish her as a committed and field-shaping editor richly deserving of this honor.”

The CELJ award is one of many that Cole has garnered in recent years for her work. Last year, Cole’s latest book, How the Other Half Laughs: The Comic Sensibility in American Culture, 1895-1920, received honorable mentions for the Charles Hatfield Book Prize and the Research Society for American Periodicals Book Prize.

“This is a well-deserved acknowledgement of Professor Cole’s dedication and skill,” said Peggy O’Neill, Ph.D., associate dean of humanities for Loyola. “Jean’s focus not just on excellence but also on mentoring emerging scholars exemplifies her commitment to her discipline as well as to equity and inclusion.”

Cole served in an advisory capacity on The Winnifred Eaton Archive, which earned a 2022 Open Scholarship Award Honourable Mention from INKE (Implementing New Knowledge Environments). Cole was also the 2017 recipient of Loyola’s Nachbahr Award for scholarship in the humanities.

“Dr. Cole shares the skills she uses in her professional scholarship with her students and with faculty. She embodies Loyola's core values of academic excellence and the constant challenge to improve,” said Kathy Forni, Ph.D., professor of English and chair of the English department.

Cole has been teaching English literature at Loyola since 2001 and will be retiring from the University in June. 

Learn more about Cole and her work at Loyola University Maryland.