Newly Decorated for Services to France

Tom Conner (Modern Languages & Literatures), has been recognized by the government of France as a chevalier (knight) in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques (Order of Academic Palms). Conner – one of only 20 people in the United States to have been admitted to the order at this level of distinction – received the decoration this fall at the French Consulate in Chicago.

Conner is being recognized for his service over more than three decades to “promote French language and culture in the United States” as well as for his pioneering work in the former French colony of Cambodia.

A life of scholarship
The citation accompanying Conner's Ordre des Palmes Académiques also includes mention of Conner’s extensive service to the profession and of his two most recent books, on André Gide and the Dreyfus Affair respectively.

Conner has written for this magazine on his work on the latter project. The political scandal that divided France for more than 10 years took Conner himself to Devil’s Island.

Oct. 31, 2018