English Professor Wallace Gray Dies at 74
By Lisa Palladino
 Wallace
Gray, a professor emeritus of English and comparative literature
and a favorite teacher for generations of College students,
died on December 21 in Manhattan. He was 74 and lived on Morningside
Heights.
Gray taught one of the College's most popular courses, "Eliot,
Joyce, Pound," for some 20 years. The course was known
as E.J.P. among students, who would line up overnight to register
for the chance to hear Gray in his crowded auditorium. It
being a somewhat daunting theme, Gray liked to put his audience
at ease as he started each new semester. "Let's be frank
about this," he was quoted as saying in fall 1985, "I
know more about Ulysses than anyone else in the world, and
I'm going to teach it all to you." That same year, Gray
published From Homer to Joyce (Macmillan), a collection
of 18 of his essays.
Gray, who also taught at Hunter College for several years,
joined the Columbia faculty in 1953 as an instructor and rose
to full professor in 1974. He took emeritus status in the
mid-1990s but continued to teach courses at the College until
last year. Gray was the teacher with the longest service in
Lit Hum, and during his career he also served as director
of freshman composition and assistant dean of students.
 |
|
Memorial
Service
|
 |
| |
A
memorial service for Professor Gray will be held
at St. Paul's Chapel on the Columbia University
campus on Thursday, April 4, from 3:30-4:30. Reception
to follow.
|
|
 |
|
He was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades. The
Society of Columbia Graduates honored him with its Great Teacher
Award, and the student body gave him its Mark Van Doren Award
for teaching excellence. In 1997, he was a co-recipient of
the Award for Distinguished Service to the Core Curriculum.
Born July 13, 1927, in Alexandria, La., Gray served in the
Navy in World War II before graduating from Louisiana College
in 1946. He received a master's degree from Louisiana State
University in 1951 and a doctorate in English and comparative
literature from Columbia in 1958. He had a part in campus
theater productions and wrote more than a dozen plays, including
Helen, which envisioned a 40-year-old Helen of Troy
back in Sparta; it opened off-Broadway in 1964. His Cowboy
and the Tiger was at one time the longest-running musical
for children in New York City's history and also was shown
on television.
George Stephanopoulos '82, ABC News commentator and former
Presidential adviser, spoke for many when he said, "Professor
Gray gave me a gift that will - literally - last a lifetime:
He taught me how to read literature."
Gray is survived by a brother, Aubrey.
Other coverage:
Amba Datta, "Core
Professor Gray Inspired Students,"
Columbia Spectator
Avigayil Druck, From
Homer to Joyce, Columbia Specatator
Wallace Gray, "I'll
Take My Stand" [reprint], Columbia Spectator
"Core
Awards Go to Hovde, Gray", Columbia Record
|
