Cedric Reverand Receives George Duke Humphrey Award |
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April 29, 2003 -- University of Wyoming Department of English Professor Cedric Reverand, who also has served as director of UW Cultural Programs for nearly two decades, is the recipient of the George Duke Humphrey Distinguished Faculty Award.
The Humphrey Award, named for UW's 13th president who served from 1945-1964, recognizes teaching effectiveness, distinction in scholarly work, and distinguished service to the university and state.
In nomination letters for the award, colleagues praised Reverand for his dedication to every aspect of his field.
"Professor Reverand, in a long and exemplary career at the University of Wyoming, has achieved an exceptional record of scholarly excellence, superb teaching, and extraordinary service," wrote Department of English Chair Janice Harris. "The George Duke Humphrey Award goes to a faculty member who 'does it all.' Reverand certainly has 'done it all,' and in the process of his dedication has materially improved the life and conditions of many in the university and local communities."
Reverand, who specializes in 17th and 18th century English literature, has been recognized as one of the world's foremost experts on English poet, dramatist, and critic John Dryden. In 2000, he became one of 16 Dryden scholars -- of whom only four were Americans -- selected to contribute to "John Dryden, Tercentenary Essays"(Oxford: Clarendon Press). He also was selected to present papers at conferences in Bristol, England, and the University of California-Los Angeles that commemorated the 300th anniversary of Dryden's death.
Reverand began studying Dryden's work several years ago. He says that gradually he became fascinated by the last major work of the writer's career, "Fables, Ancient and Modern," a collection of 21 tales long admired by Dryden readers. Some scholars have ranked the work second only to John Milton's "Paradise Lost" as the greatest narrative poem of the 17th century.
"Despite all this, nobody had ever written a book on Fables," Reverand says. "There are various reasons why. First, it's not only complex, but also long, longer than Homer's "Odyssey," longer than the "Iliad," more than twice as long as "Paradise Lost." Second, scholars had generally skipped "Fables" because they assumed translations were mechanical exercises: I treated them as creative works."
Reverand's resulting book, "Dryden's Final Poetic Mode: The Fables," was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 1988. The work encouraged others to study and teach "Fables," Reverand says, and to write both about Dryden's late poetry and about his translations.
Reverand has taught at UW since 1971. He earned a B.A. degree from Yale, an M.A. degree from Columbia, and a Ph.D. from Cornell. Reverand has published more than 40 separate articles and essays, and hundreds of reviews. His honors include appointment as an honorary fellow and life member of Clare Hall (Cambridge University) and an Ellbogen Award for Meritorious Classroom Teaching at UW.
"People often assume that scholars don't make good teachers and good teachers don't make good scholars," he says. "In fact, if you listed the faculty in my department who had the most impressive publications and then the faculty who had the teaching awards, you would find the names were, by and large, the same on each list."
Reverand's other interests include art and music. He has played piano since he was five years old and is an accomplished harpsichord player. Reverand regularly teaches an undergraduate course in literature and the fine arts, and he has served as UW's director of Cultural Programs -- responsible for booking and running the university's concert series - since 1987.
In 1999, Reverand received the Betty Connors Award for outstanding service to the performing arts. The award is granted by the Western Arts Alliance, the largest organization of performing arts professionals in the United States. Posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2003
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