Two faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida — Michael Hofmann and Jonathan Martin — have been recognized as Distinguished Professors, among the most prestigious honors awarded to faculty.
Michael Hofmann has been named a Distinguished Professor of English, recognizing his outstanding contributions to literature, translation and teaching.
Hofmann is an internationally acclaimed poet, translator, critic and essayist. He has translated more than 100 books from German into English, bringing the voices of writers like Joseph Roth, Franz Kafka, Alfred Döblin and Jenny Erpenbeck to a wider audience. He has also curated personal selections from major poets including Robert Lowell, John Berryman, W.S. Graham and Malcolm Lowry, and edited “Twentieth Century German Poetry” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008).
As a poet, Hofmann’s own collections include “Selected Poems” (2009) and “One Lark, One Horse” (2018), both published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. His critical essays and reviews appear regularly in leading publications such as the London Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review and the Australian Book Review. These writings have been gathered in two essay collections, “Behind the Lines” and “Where Have You Been?”, as well as his 2020 Clarendon Lectures, “Messing About in Boats” (Oxford University Press).
He has been awarded the PEN Translation Award, the Kurt and Helen Wolff Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, among other honors.
“I’m glad something as old-school and immemorial and low-maintenance as a man of letters is still permitted to make a showing in these flashy times,” said Hofmann, adding. “Go MFA@FLA!”
Hofmann teaches both undergraduate and graduate poetry workshops and offers courses in creative nonfiction, inspiring the next generation of writers and literary scholars.
Jonathan Martin has been named a Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the fields of geochemistry, hydrology and earth system science.
Martin is a leading geochemist whose research focuses on understanding chemical effects produced by interactions between surface water and groundwater in various hydrologic systems. His work examines how water flow influences biogeochemical reactions to control compositions of dissolved gases and water chemistry across diverse environments, from deep ocean settings to upland watersheds.
Over the course of his career, Martin has addressed critical environmental challenges that include carbonate mineral dissolution and redox conditions in karst aquifers, effects of submarine groundwater discharge on estuarine water quality, and impacts of sea level rise on coastal aquifers through saltwater intrusion. Recently, his work on glacial landscapes has shed light on nutrient delivery to the ocean and greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere following ice sheet retreat in the Arctic.
Martin works with colleagues in the Department of Geological Sciences and the UF Water Institute, as well as collaborators around the globe to advance scientific understanding of water-rock interactions and environmental change, while mentoring the next generation of geoscientists.
