François Proulx, Professor of French and Italian, is a recipient of the 2019 Campus Distinguished Promotion Award and a 2019-2020 Helen Corley Petit Scholar award.

The Campus Distinguished Promotion Award is a special recognition based on the scope, quality and impact of a faculty member’s scholarship, teaching, service and engagement efforts. Eleven scholars across the Illinois campus received this honor: Proulx is one of four individuals recently promoted to the associate professor rank.

The Helen Corley Petit Scholar Award is named for Mrs. Helen Corley Petit, a deceased alumna of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who provided an endowment for the development of the scholarship and teaching of early career faculty members in the College. Proulx is one of five newly promoted associate professors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences named Petit Scholars for 2019-2020.

Proulx received a PhD from Harvard University. His research interests include nineteenth- and twentieth-century French literature, gender and sexuality studies, Québec and francophone literatures, literary theory, translation studies, and Marcel Proust. He also serves as Director of Graduate Studies for the department.