Jay Rubenstein, associate professor of history at UT, has been selected for the MacArthur Fellows.

This fellowship gives Rubenstein a $500,000 award that is paid out in quarterly installments for five years, according to the MacArthur web site. This award allows its recipients to do what they wish with the money. According to its web site, the fellowship nominates its members based on "their expertise, accomplishments, and breadth of experience." The fellows specialize in a wide variety of fields.

Rubenstein specializes in Europe in the Middle Ages. His research includes France and England in the 11th and 12th centuries. Rubenstein's first book was about a monk, Guibert of Nogent. According to Rubestein, Guibert wrote the first autobiography in the Western World since St. Augustine in 1115. Presently Rubenstein is studying the First Crusade.

Rubenstein has been at UT since fall of 2006. Before he began his career here, he taught at the University of New Mexico for seven years. Prior to this he taught one year at both the Syracuse University and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Penn.

Rubenstein is very grateful for this award.

"When you spend as much time working on something as I have spent working with Guibert and his world, it is nice to know that someone actually appreciates what you have been doing," Rubenstein said.

Rubenstein is grateful for the freedom to pursue his research without having to worry about how to fund it. He also says that he will be making more trips to Europe to continue his research.