Writing, lecturing and study 
abroad in the field of English 
literature have closely allied CLAR
ENCE DEWITT THORPE, A.M. 
'15, Ph.D.'25, Professor of English 
and of the Teaching of English, with 
the subjects he has taught since 
1912. Holder of degrees from three
 institutions, he continued his own 
studies for some years after becom
ing a teacher, and in his capacities
 as teacher and lecturer in three universities, this alumnus has worked 
diligently, not only in the classroom, 
but among teachers of high school
 English.

Professor Thorpe was born 
at Iowa Falls, Iowa, December 14, 
1887, and attended Ellsworth Col
lege in that city. With an A.B. de
gree, he entered the University of
 Arizona in 1911, receiving a Mas
ter's degree a year later, when he 
became Head of the English De
partment of Northern Arizona State
 Teachers College. Here he remained 
until 1918, studying meanwhile at 
Michigan for a Master's degree, that he received in 1915.

As As
sistant Professor of Rhetoric and
 English at the University of Arizona
 from 1919 to 1921, and as Associate 
Professor and later Chairman of the 
Division of Written and Spoken 
English at the University of Ore
gon from 1921 to 1924, he received
 valuable experience before coming to 
Michigan in 1924 as Instructor. The 
following year he received his Ph.D
 degree and became Assistant Pro
fessor, later, for one year, Associate
 
Professor, and, in 1928, Professor. 


He has spent several sabbatical 
leaves abroad in travel and study, 
 and has become a recognized author
ity on Keats, Coleridge and others of 
the English poets, about whom he
 has written numerous articles for 
learned publications. At present, 
 his latest book, The Aesthetic The
ory of Thomas Hobbes, is in press. 
 He is also the author, with F. C. 
Lockwood, of Public Speaking To
day, 1921; The Mind of John Keats, 
 1926; and, with others, of College
 Composition, 1929, and Preparation 
for College English, 1935. In addi
tion, he was co-editor of and con
tributor to the Fred Newton Scott
 Anniversary Papers, 1929; co-
editor, with E. A. Walter, of Univer
sity Readings, 1931, and editor of 
John Keats—The Complete Poems
 and Selected Letters, 1935.

Profes
sor Thorpe is a member of the Mod
ern Language Association, the
 American and Michigan Academies
 of Sciences, the British Society of
 Authors, Playwrights and Composers, and of Phi Kappa Phi. He
 was, for ten years, Director on the
 National Council of Teachers of 
English, and is Editor of The Eng
lish Bulletin. On the Campus, he is
 member of the Executive Committee
 of the Senate Advisory Committee, 
 of the Senate Council, and of the
 Administrative Board. Relaxing 
from these many pursuits is done in 
his garden or on the golf links, al
though he lists travel as one of his 
favorite hobbies.