Al Filreis, an English professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has been inducted as one of 14 founding members into the Minerva Academy, an honorary institution dedicated to promoting and rewarding extraordinary advancements and innovation in higher education around the world.

“Welcoming these distinguished educators as founding members of the Minerva Academy is a way to honor and recognize their contributions and accomplishments in teaching innovation,” said Roger Komberg, a Nobel Laureate and governor of the Minerva Academy.

Filreis, who is also the director of Penn’s Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing and faculty director at Kelly Writers House, was nominated for his contributions to and innovative thinking in teaching.

Housed in the San Francisco-based Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, a non-profit organization focused on higher education reform, the Academy provides a forum for the open exchange of new ideas and practical improvements in instruction.