Yale '62 - Obituaries - Edward P. Nolan



Professor Edward P. Nolan

Born: March 14, 1937
Died: October 26, 1994

Ed came to Yale from Appleton, Wisconsin. He was a member of Timothy Dwight College and affiliated with our class. He majored in English.

After obtaining his bachelor's degree, Ed attended Indiana University where he was awarded a doctorate in Comparative Literature in 1966. He then joined the faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He rose to be full Professor of English and Comparative Literature.

While teaching at C.U., Ed was honored in many ways. In 1992, he was given the University of Colorado Faculty Council Award for excellence. He was chairman of the comparative literature program from 1971 to 1974 and again from 1983 to 1984; he was chairman of the Faculty Council from 1981 to 1983 and is credited with negotiating academic tenure reforms. He also taught everything from freshman courses to doctorate-level courses. Students recognized him as one of the best teachers on campus.

Among his publications are "Now Through a Glass Darkly: Specular Images of Being and Knowing from Virgil to Chaucer" in 1990, and "American Library Manuscripts: A Checklist of Holdings in Academic, Historical and Public Libraries, Museums and Authors' homes in the United States" in 1977. The former book received the Faculty Book Award in the Humanities in 1991.

A third book, "Inscribing Revelation: A Grammar of Holy Vision in Perpetua of Carthage, Hildegaard of Bingen, and Julian of Norwich," was published posthumously.

Survivors included his wife, Liesel, of Boulder; a daughter, Charlotte; his mother, Charlotte, of Waupaca, Wisconsin; a brother, Philip, of Oak Park, Illinois; and a grandson.

Although there was speculation on the campus that his death was related to a vaccination he had received six days prior to his death, Boulder County health officials determined that the cause of death was a blood infection, known as sepsis.

In his memory the University created a scholarship fund, the Edward Nolan English Graduate Student Fund, to honor his renowned teaching skills and academic achievements.