University of Western Ontario English professor Douglas Kneale has accepted the position of Dean of Humanities at Brock University, effective July 1.
A faculty member since 1985, Kneale holds a PhD in English from the University of Toronto (1983) and an MA (1979) and Honors BA (1978) from Western. He has also taught at Yale University (Fall 1984), Bishop’s (1983-84) and Toronto (1979-82).
Douglas Kneale
While saddened to leave Western, Kneale admits he’s excited about the many opportunities that await him at Brock.
“Brock is moving into a period of very creative growth, perhaps the most tangible example being the construction of the new Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines, which is a collaboration with community and government partners,” says Kneale.
“But Brock is also doing innovative and award-winning work in teaching and research, building international connections for both students and faculty, and providing opportunities for students to acquire an ethos of service.”
Kneale has received numerous awards while at Western including the Edward G. Pleva Award for Excellence in Teaching, the University Students’ Council Teaching Honour Roll Award of Excellence and Western’s Panhellenic Council Faculty Appreciation.
His research interests stretch from Wordsworth and Milton to psychoanalysis and the history of rhetoric, publishing books on English Romanticism and contributing peer-reviewed essays to top-ranked journals and volumes around the world.
Teaching for 25 years at Western, along with being a one-time student, Kneale admits the memories created at Western will stay with him forever.
“I was fortunate to have many outstanding professors as an undergrad, and I know how they provided models of teaching that I have tried to come close to in my own career,” he says, recalling T.M. Luke in Applied Math, Ron Martin in Chemistry and Ross
Woodman in English as examples. “Their lectures remain with me to this hour and I am proud that Western maintains a tradition of strong and vital undergraduate teaching.”
Besides academic credentials, Kneale also brings considerable administrative experience to his new position, having sat on numerous committees at Western including the Appointments, Promotion & Tenure Committee and the Budget and Development Committee.
Teaching a first-year English course almost every year since he’s been at Western, in many ways Kneale see’s it as the most important thing he does.
“Teaching gives you a sense of audience that keeps you honest in your scholarly writing,” he says. “I will miss Western terribly; the landscape, the students, colleagues from all across campus and, as a former Chair of English, the best staff in the world.”
