2000-2001: Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Braxton Craven Professor of Comparative Literature and English, Duke University.

2001-2002: Natalie Zemon Davis, Henry Charles Lea Professor Emerita, Princeton University; Adjunct Professor of History and Senior Fellow in Comparative Literature, University of Toronto.

2002-2003: Lawrence Levine, Margaret Byrne Professor of History, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley; Professor of History and Cultural Studies, George Mason University.

2003-2004: Carlo Ginzburg, Franklin D. Murphy Professor of Italian Renaissance Studies, UCLA.

2004-2005: Michael Fried, J. R. Herbert Boone Chair in the Humanities (History of Art); Director, The Humanities Center, Johns Hopkins University.

2005-2006: Mary Louise Pratt, Silver Professor, Departments of Spanish and Portuguese, and of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University.

2006-2007: Manthia Diawara, University Professor, Comparative Literature and Film, Director of the Institute of African American Affairs, New York University.

2007-2008: Cathy N. Davidson, Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English and John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Duke University; and co-founder of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory.

2008-2009: Houston A Baker, Jr.,, Distinguished University Professor, Vanderbilt University.

2009-2010: Adolph L. Reed, Jr.,, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania.

2010-2011: Linda Gordon, Professor of History, New York University.