Professor Frederick Schauer of the University of Virginia School of Law was elected a corresponding fellow of the British Academy on Thursday in recognition of his distinguished contributions to academic thought.

Schauer is a world-renowned expert in the areas of constitutional law, evidence, legal reasoning, freedom of speech, and jurisprudence and the philosophy of law.

The British Academy is comprised of more than 1,400 academics, who are elected from the United Kingdom and around the world based on their outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences. Corresponding fellows are scholars of distinction who reside outside of the U.K. and have “attained high international standing in any of the branches of study which it is the object of the Academy to promote.”

Schauer said he is honored to receive the award, which is a rare distinction among Americans, both in law and in other fields. Fewer than 10 American legal scholars are fellows, a group that includes Guido Calabresi and Richard Posner. Schauer was the only American elected in law in 2020.

“The U.K. has been a big part of my academic life for over 40 years, in terms of visiting appointments at both Oxford and Cambridge, lectures over the years at many U.K. universities, and publication of some of my books and articles,” he said. “I am truly flattered by this unexpected and unusual honor.”

New members are named at the conclusion of a lengthy secret-ballot process culminating at the Annual General Meeting of Fellows, held each July.

Schauer is a David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at UVA, and he is among the most recognizable names in the legal academy. His expertise has been demonstrated in hundreds of books, book chapters, articles, essays, classes and personal appearances.

Last year, he received an honorary doctorate from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Among his other accolades, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has been chair of the Section on Constitutional Law of the Association of American Law Schools and of the Committee on Philosophy and Law of the American Philosophical Association.

From 1990 to 2008, he was Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard University, from which he earned his J.D. in 1972, and was previously professor of law at the University of Michigan.

Schauer has served as a visiting professor or guest speaker at numerous universities and distinguished venues around the world, including Columbia Law School, the University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, the University of Toronto, Australian National University, New York University and the University of Oxford.

Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.