FAC ULT Y FA R EW E L L S
Ray Williams
Penny Bird
Bruce Jorgensen
DEATHS
professor emeritus of Japanese, died Jan. 19, 2014. He received a BA in Asiatic studies from BYU and an MA and PhD from Stanford University. Prior to teaching at BYU, he was a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia and a lecturer at Auckland University. He also served two years of active duty in the U.S. Army in Fukuoka, Japan, where he received the National Defense Foreign Language Fellowship. At BYU, he taught pre-modern and modern Japanese literature and language, as well as Japanese literary and historical texts, for 33 years. GEORGE W. PERKINS,
professor of philosophy, died April 11, 2014. He received a philosophy degree from BYU and a law degree from Columbia University. After law school, White worked for a law firm in Houston for six years before accepting a teaching position at BYU. He taught at BYU for nearly two decades. ROBERT M. WHITE,
professor emeritus of English, died May 13, 2014. In 1969 he began RAY S. WILLIAMS,
dramatic impact on writing at BYU, particularly with first-year writing. She has trained and supervised hundreds of tutors, who, in turn, have helped thousands of BYU students improve their papers. She has been active in writing center conferences and has received an Alcuin Fellowship and the Transfer Teaching Award from Religious Education. Perhaps her most precious memory of her time at BYU was codirecting a London Centre study abroad program, where she taught students about Jane Austen.
Alan Melby
teaching at BYU, where he taught for more than 35 years in the graduate program for English literature. His specialty was 19thcentury American literature. RETIREMENTS
was administrative assistant for the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages for nearly three decades, serving more than 30 full-time and several dozen adjunct faculty, as well as thousands of students. She was a responsible steward of the widow’s mite, carefully watching over the use of resources in the department. She has been a friend to countless students, a source of strength and comfort, and a listening ear. She was a mentor to many student assistants, and her experience gave her the historical perspective to cut through layers of bureaucracy to get things done in a timely and efficient manner. CALLY ANDRUS
(English) has spent 29 years teaching composition and literature at BYU. As coordinator and manager of the Writing Center for over two decades, Bird has had a C. PENNY BIRD
(English) holds a BA from BYU and an MA and PhD from Cornell. He has taught at Southern Utah State College, Ithaca College, Cornell, and Syracuse. Since 1975, he has taught full-time at BYU, with one year at BYU–Hawaii. His most recent teaching assignments at BYU have included creative writing, fiction writing, world literature, and the short story. He continues to write his own fiction. In 1994 he received a Pushcart Prize nomination, an American literary prize for the best work published in small presses. The main study of his life since childhood has been the hearing and telling of stories. BRUCE W. JORGENSEN
(English) has taught at various universities, including BYU, Portland State, Eastern Michigan, and Michigan (where she received her doctorate). Her last 30 years of teaching were at BYU and included courses in Native American literature, literature and film, and women’s literature and a senior seminar on Carl G. Jung. For a decade, she accompanied BYU faculty and students on service-learning projects among the Aymara of Bolivia, the Quechua of Peru, SUZANNE EVERTSEN LUNDQUIST
September 2014
July 2014
August 2014
July 11 University Forum
August 18–22 Campus Education Week
September The Restored Gospel and Applied Christianity
Humanities professors taught classes on several subjects, from philosophy to lifelong reading
Winning essays from the 25th annual David O. McKay Essay Contest published by the Office for the Study of Christian Values in Literature, in partnership with the Religious Studies Center
“When Humanities Become the World” Scott M. Sprenger, former associate dean and French professor
MARK PHILBRICK
8 BY U CO L L EG E O F H U MANITIES