Jane Austen was born 250 years ago. Yet for millions of readers, she feels anything but distant. This is thanks in part to the innovative work of Janine Barchas.
Barchas is the Chancellor’s Council Centennial Professor in the Book Arts at The University of Texas at Austin, an English professor in the College of Liberal Arts, and a 2026 President’s Research Impact Award recipient.
The President’s Research Impact Award recognizes researchers whose work has fundamentally changed lives and perspectives. For Barchas, that impact has unfolded across an unusually wide range of formats, from traditional scholarship to projects that engage broad public audiences.
For example, her graphic novel, “The Novel Life of Jane Austen,” brings rigorous scholarship to a format that even young readers can enjoy. Barchas’ digital project, “What Jane Saw,” reconstructs two blockbuster art exhibitions Austen attended in 1796 and 1813, allowing audiences to experience the galleries as the novelist once did. Additionally, her “Will & Jane” exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., explored the parallel afterlives of Austen and William Shakespeare.
“It is impossible not to be inspired by Janine’s work,” said Lizzie Dunford, director of Jane Austen’s House in Alton, England. “What we read is who we are, and if you become the person that helps us understand what we read, that’s an incredible impact.”
For Barchas, the driving force is simple: keeping a great writer alive for a new generation of leaders. “Every generation needs to have ownership over a great writer in order for a writer to remain great,” she said. “I get to be part of that legacy.”
