Campus mourns Dr. Dorothy Parkander
Dr. Dorothy Parkander, an Augustana professor emerita of English whose 50-year teaching career touched an estimated 40,000 students, died Oct. 8 in Rock Island.
"Her intellectual rigor, the eloquence and elegance of her lectures, her impassioned commitment to words well crafted, and perhaps most of all, the energy and warmth of her smile, were legendary," said Dr. Ann Boaden, a colleague and friend. "Though the demands of her classes could daunt, the love she brought to literature and to her students invariably affirmed. And made stretching the mind and heart fun."
A Chicago native and daughter of a Lutheran minister, Dr. Parkander graduated summa cum laude from Augustana in 1946 and then received a master's degree from the University of Chicago.
She returned to Augustana to begin her teaching career in 1947 at the height of the post-World War II influx of students. She was just 21; President Conrad Bergendoff and Professor Henriette Naeseth, chair of the English department, had promised her that there would be a teaching position for her at Augustana once she had a master's degree.
She was a member of the English department until her retirement in 1996 at the age of 71. In 1962, she received a doctorate with honors from the University of Chicago.
In 1983 she was appointed the first holder of the Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities by President Thomas Tredway. She was named Illinois Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, a national body, in 1992.
"She cherished these accolades, but equally so those of students who went on to other fields but learned the love of literature from her," said Dr. Boaden. "Many noted scholars, writers, and teachers credit her example and encouragement with their own subsequent achievements."
Dr. Parkander maintained connections with many of her students, viewing them as members of what she termed her family. As a professor, she taught rhetoric, world literature, modern drama, the English novel, and courses on Milton and Chaucer. She taught the first world literature course at Augustana. She was fond of 19th century English novels, especially works by Jane Austen, and considered teaching the 19th-century novel her favorite class.
In 2001 her former students and colleagues established the Dorothy J. Parkander Chair in Literature in her honor. In 2007 the Dorothy Parkander Residence Center opened on campus.
In 2000, speaking to the reunion of the Class of 1950, she said this:
“When I first came to Augustana the campus was bounded on the south by Andreen Hall, on the north by the Woman's Building, on the east by 38th Street and on the west by Wallberg Hall of Science and Denkmann Library. Now the college stretches to Europe, the Far East, South America and even Antarctica. Even greater is the academic reach which can at times sweep the stars.
"It has been a great joy to see Augustana’s development under the leadership and vision of President Bergendoff, President Sorensen, and President Tredway; and to follow, often with awe, the achievements of so many former students and colleagues. That seems to me to describe a privileged life and I am grateful to Augustana for it.”
Visitation for Dr. Parkander will be from 2-5 p.m. Oct. 14 at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, 3030 7th Ave., Rock Island. Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St John's Lutheran Church, 4501 7th Avenue, Rock Island.
A campus remembrance is planned for 10 a.m. Oct. 20, in Wallenberg Hall in the Denkmann Memorial Building.