Karen R. Lawrence

A colleague wrote of Professor Lawrence: "For a scholar of any age, hers is an enviable record; for a scholar of her age, it is truly remarkable."

After receiving her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her Ph.D. from Columbia, Professor Lawrence began her academic career at the University of Utah in 1978. She is recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on James Joyce, and she has served as the president of the International James Joyce Foundation since 1991. An initial book on Joyce, "The Odyssey of Style in Ulysses", has been followed by numerous books and essays on 19th and 20th century literature, culminating in her most recent work, "Penelope Voyages: Women and Travel in the British Literary Tradition."

She is considered to be an extremely demanding and rigorous professor, yet her courses consistently are oversubscribed. She has been described as a role model and mentor to students, setting high standards and enabling students to live up to them. In recognition of her teaching abilities, she received the Ramona W. Cannon Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities in 1983. Professor Lawrence also served as chair of the Department of English from 1984 to 1989.

Professor Lawrence received a Guggenheim Fellowship and has been elected to executive positions in the Modern Language Association, the Association of Departments of English, and the International Society for the Study of Narrative. She serves on the committee that writes the Graduate Record Examination subject test in English.