2021 Robert L. Kindrick-CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies

Axel Müller (Univ. of Leeds)

This year the CARA Committee is pleased to honor Dr. Axel Müller with the Robert L. Kindrick-CARA Award for Service to Medieval Studies. Dr. Müller is the Director of the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, UK, where he has overseen the annual meeting of International Medieval Congress (IMC) for over two decades. Hosted each year in Leeds, the IMC is the largest annual conference of its kind in the UK, drawing scholars together from as many as thirty-five different countries from across the globe. Dr. Müller not only oversees an international programming committee, as well as a considerable staff, but he has meticulously organized the intellectual coherence of the conference. Year after year, he has served to ensure that the thematic strands of each meeting are coherent, meaningful, and reflective of the changing nature of our field in resonant ways. During his time as Director of the IMC he has expanded the visibility of Medieval Studies across Higher Education in the UK and far beyond its borders and made “Leeds” – as the conference is colloquially known – an indispensable place to present work, meet colleagues, and foster collaboration. The conference is now recognized as one of the most important venues at which to present scholarly research internationally, one from which countless research projects, publications, and activities have emerged. Behind all of this innovation has been Dr. Müller’s careful, thoughtful, and receptive direction. He has long recognized that the synergies that make conference attendance so productive and enjoyable often happen during the coffee breaks, over lunch, and when we gather as a community of scholars where we can share our expertise, skills, and knowledge. In addition, Dr. Müller has also served as the general editor of the International Medieval Research series published by Brepols, which to date has nearly thirty volumes on its list. Dr. Müller has led the way in promoting Medieval Studies and fostering a sense of intellectual and international community in the process. This award recognizes his long-standing and transformative service to our field. And in this year in particular, as all that we are missing by not being able to go to Leeds in person is painfully apparent, we honor and recognize Dr. Müller’s service more than ever. May we return soon to greet Axel – towering above the crowds – and to communicate our thanks and gratitude in person.