President of the Lessing Society, 2002–2004

The lessing society originated at the University of Cincinnati in 1966 as the American Lessing Society. Its founders wished first and foremost to acknowledge Lessing's major contributions to German culture and Western thought in fields as varied as literature and literary criticism, aesthetics, anthropology and theology, music and sculpture. They were also aware, however, that Lessing's achievement did not receive the attention it deserved in his native Germany and that his critical cosmopolitanism, with its ideals of religious and personal tolerance and humanitarianism, found greater resonance in the United States. They thus created the Society with the express goals of stimulating a reappraisal of the pertinence of Lessing's thought in modern times, fostering scholarly lectures and symposia about Lessing and his age, developing extensive research facilities for the study of eighteenth-century German literature and culture, and, in general, reemphasizing Lessing's cosmopolitan humanism and continuing importance throughout the civilized world.

In keeping with these purposes, the Lessing Society sponsors annual seminars at meetings of the Modern Language Association, the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, and certain regional organizations. It has also (co-)organized and/or (co-)sponsored some half dozen international symposia which have produced extensive volumes of conference proceedings. In 1969, the Society published the first volume of the Lessing Yearbook.With the thirty-third volume soon to appear as of this writing, the Lessing Yearbook has long since become a respected organ of eighteenth-century studies in disciplines as diverse as Lessing's own interests and is recognized internationally as a vital compendium of current research both in its articles and its extensive review section.

Through its varied endeavors, the Lessing Society has assumed a respected place in the scholarly community of Germanists. Having celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2001, it is currently the largest and most active of all American-based organizations honoring a specific German author. Virtually from its establishment, however, colleagues in both Germanys and other countries lent their support to its work. In 1973, the Society therefore dropped “American” from its title, in recognition of its international inspiration, membership, and activity. This internationalism has only increased over the years. While most members still come from North America and Germany, a total of fifteen countries, including Japan and South Korea, are represented in the membership, and colleagues from a variety of countries contribute articles and reviews to the Lessing Yearbook.