In Memoriam: Spring 2011

Norval Glenn, professor emeritus of sociology, who taught for 47 years at the university, died Feb. 15. He was 77 years old. A prominent scholar of family sociology, Glenn wrote extensively on marriage and divorce, aging and the life course, and methods and survey data analysis. In 2008, he co-directed the first nationally representative sample survey of 750 children of divorce, which provided a substantial body of research on the psychological effects of divorce in children and young people.

William Goetzmann, professor emeritus of history and American studies, who taught at the university for more than 40 years, died Sept. 7 at age 79. A specialist in the American West, Goetzmann won both the Pulitzer and Parkman prizes in 1967 for his seminal book “Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West.” He served as chair of the Department of History from 1968 to 1969, directed the American Studies program from 1964 to 1980 and retired in 2005 as the Jack S. Blanton Chair in American Studies and History.

Mel Hinich, the Mike Hogg Professor of Local Government and professor of economics, died Sept. 7 at age 71. He taught at the university for 28 years. A highly respected teacher and researcher, Hinich made contributions to multiple fields of study including American politics, time series analysis, statistical signal processing and microeconomics. He published numerous articles and books including “The Spatial Theory of Voting,” “Ideology and the Theory of Political Choice,” “Analytical Politics,” and “Consumer Protection Legislation and the U.S. Food Industry.”

James Nicolopulos, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, died Dec. 1 at age 65. A specialist in the fields of Renaissance Hispanic and Colonial Latin American poetics, he taught at the university for 18 years. He is especially known for his original contributions to the study of the Mexican and “Border” genre of topical folk ballads known as corridos. He authored and co-authored numerous scholarly publications including “Lydia Mendoza: A Family Autobiography” and “The Poetics of Empire in the Indies.”

Douglass Parker, professor emeritus of classics, died Feb. 8 at age 83. He taught at the university for 40 years. Parker taught classes in Greek and Latin languages and literature at all levels, a wide range of courses in classical civilization, and special offerings on the theory and practice of translation. He also taught a unique course on parageography, the study of imaginary worlds. His translations of the comedic plays of Aristophanes are widely available and have been performed around the globe.

James F. M. Stephens, professor emeritus and former chair of French and Italian, died Feb. 12 at age 88. In 1958 Stephens began his teaching career at The University of Texas at Austin, where he specialized in French drama. During his long and distinguished career at the university, Stephens taught popular courses in the history of French languages, and contemporary French theater. Born in Del Rio, Texas in 1922, Stephens worked in the U.S. Army Intelligence during World War II, where he specialized in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese.

Dee Ann Story, professor emeritus of anthropology, who taught for 45 years at the university, died Dec. 26 at age 79. She directed archaeological investigations across Texas, but was best known for her work on the George C. Davis site in East Texas, where Caddo Indians built mounds. From 1965 to 1987 Story served as the first director of the university’s Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory, where she
directed numerous major archaeologi-cal projects.