During her 38 years at F&M, Professor Linda S. Aleci has epitomized the ideal of the scholar-teacher, bringing a vigorous commitment to the value of historical inquiry into the academy, the classroom, and the discourses of public life.

A historian of early modern culture in Europe, Professor Aleci received her doctoral training at Princeton University and the Warburg Institute of the University of London, where she became fascinated by the uses of objects and environments as sources of imaginative friction between past and present. From this intellectual grounding, she developed innovative courses that challenged students to reflect on cultural artifacts and historical practices as they illuminate controversies and tensions still very much with us. As examples, she examined the complex impulses to destroy objects we find offensive, or new social configurations of wealth and the moral dilemmas of consumption. Dedicated to the mission of the academy as it both models and inculcates scholarly habits of mind, Professor Aleci additionally mentored scores of students in independent research and curatorial projects, yielding notable work that won College prizes, departmental honors, and were featured in regional symposia highlighting advanced undergraduate research.

In the spirit of early modern scholarship, Professor Aleci researches and publishes across disciplinary boundaries. Among an early generation of scholars who worked beyond the confines of the academy, she has particularly sought to make her work meaningful in creating more just and humane places, bringing a historian’s lens to bear on policies for the ethical stewardship of historical environments, both natural and manmade.

Professor Aleci contributed to the formation of Lancaster’s Historic Conservation District, one of the largest in the nation. And in collaboration with a team of student researchers, she developed the first study of the city’s food system. In recognition of her contributions to public policy specific to Lancaster’s Central Market and its physical site, Professor Aleci’s work received an unprecedented National Excellence Award in Urban Design from the American Planning Association.

Professor Aleci contributed significantly to faculty governance at F&M. She spearheaded the campus sustainability initiative by leading the Sustainability Master Planning group from 2010 to 2013. Committed and active until the end of her F&M career, she chaired the Faculty Council in 2021-2022 with tenacity and dedication, working tirelessly on behalf of her colleagues. Her extraordinary contributions to governance were also marked by her characteristic humor and flair. Colleagues will miss her laughter, assiduousness, and principled advocacy.

Linda S. Aleci, Associate Professor of Art History

Interim Provost Mary Osirim and Professor Aleci at the 2024 Distinguished Service Ceremony.

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