The Katherine M. Sorensen Award for Excellence in the Study of the Novel recognizes a
student in Literary Study II: Prose Fiction, whose presentation reveals him or her
to be a superior reader of the novel, exhibiting in his or her reading, writing, and
delivery Katherine's characteristic virtues: A precise intelligence and wit, a capacious
imagination, and a humane learning. The student will receive an award funded by the
Katherine M. Sorensen Memorial Fund.
Katherine Sorensen began her 20 year teaching career at the University of Dallas in 1981. She had previously taught at Yale University, where she earned her Ph.D., and at Albertus Magnus College, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Carleton College.
Dr. Sorensen's field of specialization was the Victorian Period, and her dissertation was "Drama in George Eliot: A Model for Imaginative Expression."
In addition to her teaching courses in the Literary Traditions sequence, the senior course Lit Study II: Prose Fiction, and Victorian and British Literature, Dr. Sorensen was Chair of the English Department from 1989 - 1990, directed numerous Ph.D. and M.A. theses, and served on many committees both within and outside the university. She published numerous articles in the Victorian Institute Journal, The Victorian Newsletter, and The Sewanee Review. She was a founding member of the University of Dallas chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, and a King-Haggar Scholar. She was married to S. Michael Simpson, an English Professor, and they have two children, Hannah and Stephen.
Professor Sorensen maintained a positive attitude with her diagnosis with cancer in 1997. Speaking openly and directly to her students and colleagues about her illness, she went forward with grace and dignity.
Dr. Sorensen taught her last class, on George Eliot, in Fall 2000, and died peacefully at home in February, 2001, at the age of 49.
2001 Anthony King
2002 Kathleen Mahoney
2003 Frances Maureen (Horan) Benes
2004 Elizabeth Fischer
2005 Rachel Elizabeth Faber
2006 Margaret Alexis Abbott & Andrew James Junker
2007 Robert C. Hamilton & Katherine S. Ramsay
2008 Sarah Marie Papania
2009 Mary Patricia Jones & Julia Anne Fahy
2010 Sidonie P. Blanks
2011 Teresa Marie Amador & John Carl Corrales
2012 Kevin P. Mooney
2013 Deandra Bari Lieberman
2014 Vallery Laurette Bergez
2015 Alec Eason Wallace
2016 Anne Katherine Ryland
2017 Victoria Christi Nelson
The University of Dallas Board of Trustees has announced the appointment of Executive Vice President John G. Plotts, Ed.D., as interim president of the university. Plotts joined the university in December of 2008, initially serving in the roles of associate provost and dean of undergraduate admissions.
+ Read More"That's what our teaching, and all our talk about the reflective life, boils down to -- efforts to keep brilliance in our hearts, to remember the lightness that is native to our spirit," said 2018 Piper Professor Eileen Gregory, Ph.D, professor of English. The Piper Award honors 10 professors annually in Texas colleges and universities for outstanding achievements in their profession and is widely regarded as the most prestigious award of its kind in the state.
+ Read MoreOn Sunday, May 13, the university community will gather on the Braniff Mall to celebrate and honor its newly minted graduates. From Baccalaureate Mass to Commencement, here are 10 things to know about UD's upcoming graduation weekend.
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