Russell Peck (scholar)

This article is about the writer and scholar of medieval literature. For the American composer, see Russell Peck.

Russell Peck (born December 17, 1933) is an American medievalist, scholar of medieval literature, and author. He is John Hall Deane Professor of English at the University of Rochester.

Education and early Career

After a childhood in Wyoming and an undergraduate education at Princeton University, Peck earned a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University in 1963, writing a dissertation on number symbolism in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. He was a visiting Professor at the University of Hull, England, from 1967 to 1968.

Career

Peck has written extensively on medieval literature, folklore, cognitive theory, and pedagogy; he has shaped the field of medieval literature by founding the Middle English Text Series in 1990 (which he continues to serve as general editor). He has also edited several important works of Middle English Literature, including a comprehensive three-volume edition of John Gower's Middle English Confessio Amantis. He has taught at the University of Rochester since 1961, facilitating the foundation of the Rossell Hope Robbins Library and leading an annual winter theater course in London for over twenty years.

Awards

His research has been supported by the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2014, an Artistic Directorship at the University of Rochester was endowed in honor of Peck and his wife, Ruth; it is currently held by Nigel Maister. In 2015, he was awarded the Robert L. Kindrick-CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies by the Medieval Academy of America.

External links

• Russell Peck's faculty profile
• "The Professor's Tale," Rochester Review
• Russell Peck: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence at the University of Rochester: A website with images and videos about Peck, as well as tributes from former students.
• The Middle English Text Series Online