Stewart, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, emeritus, has died
Tony Stewart, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities and professor of religious studies, emeritus, died on October 6, 2024, in Nashville. He was 70.
Stewart was a prominent figure in the field of South Asian religious studies. He was a pioneer in research on Bengali religious narratives and helped advance the field of literary translation.
Born in Millersburg, Kentucky, Stewart graduated from Bourbon County High School. He received his bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University, and earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago in the field of South Asian languages and civilizations.
Stewart worked at North Carolina State University from 1986 to 2011. He co-founded the Triangle South Asia Consortium in 1987 and directed the North Carolina Center for South Asia Studies from 1998 to 2004. In 2002, he co-founded the South Asia Summer Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and, in 2005, founded the Bangla Language Institute at Independent University, Bangladesh.
Stewart joined Vanderbilt in 2011 as a professor of religious studies and chair of the Department of Religious Studies, a title he held until 2019. In 2012, he was named the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities. He became professor emeritus in 2021.
Stewart’s research in India and Bangladesh was carried out with support from the American Institute of Indian Studies, the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, the Fulbright Program and Fulbright-Hays Program, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In total, Stewart authored six monographs and major translations, one edited volume, and more than 50 articles and short translations. His most recent monograph, Witness to Marvels: Sufism and Literary Imagination (University of California Press, 2019), was awarded the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Prize by the Association of Asian Studies in 2021.
Stewart is survived by his partner of 18 years, Vanderbilt Associate Professor of History Samira Sheikh.
A private celebration of life was held at his home on Friday, October 11.