By Nathalie Nolin, '29
Bernadette Waterman Ward, PhD, professor of English at the University of Dallas, is the 2026 recipient of
the King Fellow Award, given annually to a senior faculty member whose life and work have made a significant
contribution to the excellence of education at UDallas and who exemplifies the best
qualities of a teacher, colleague and scholar.
In this conversation, Ward reflects on a life full of unexpected turns, from folding
socks as the youngest of nine children in South Bend, Indiana, to earning degrees
at Harvard and Stanford, teaching English to immigrant workers in California and ultimately
finding her way to the University of Dallas, the institution she was always meant
to call home.
What was your life like growing up?
I am from South Bend, Indiana, where I attended a Catholic high school and grade school.
I am the youngest of nine children, and my six sisters and I lived in the attic of
a two-bedroom house. I remember folding socks for the whole family was my first chore.
My father finished high school, while my mother never did.
Tell me about your road to attending Harvard.
When I was in high school, I was going to apply to Catholic colleges within 500 miles,
just like most of my siblings did. At that time, I was in an experimental course on
law taught by Notre Dame students. I remember one of them asking me what my SAT scores
were, and when I told them, they said I needed to apply to Harvard. I then applied
to Harvard and other schools, but Harvard offered me the most scholarship money. I
really didn't go out looking for prizes. They found me. When I was still considering
if I could even afford Harvard, I got a letter in the mail saying someone wanted to
give me $1,000. That was when I decided I was going to Harvard.
The last time I received an award that felt as good as the 2026 King Fellow Award
was the night my high school announced all the scholarships I had been offered, and
everyone clapped for a long time. It felt really good.
What was life like at Harvard?
Attending Harvard moved me into a very different social sphere. My freshman year,
I received the Detur Book Prize and pursued an undergraduate degree in English and
American literature. In addition to my studies, I spent my time tutoring in the gang
areas of South Boston, participating in events at the Catholic student center, and
starting an international Amnesty International letter-writing campaign. I also learned
Spanish while in school because I lived near farmers with immigrant workers. During
my summers, I was a teacher's aide in the summer program at public schools for children
of migrant workers.
Why did you decide to pursue higher education?
I moved to California to pursue my dream of starting a mobile school for children
of migrant workers, so I began applying for grants, but I was not the best at asking
for money. I never could get the grants I needed for the mobile school, so I called
my sister and told her what was going on, and she told me to find a writing program.
Going to graduate school was my Plan B. I loved literature, and I did want to be a
professor, but I also really wanted to build the mobile school, and then that didn't
happen. I decided to call an old Harvard professor, and he told me there were two
important writing programs in the country: one in Iowa and the other at Stanford.
I could take public transportation to Stanford. I filled out an application and got
in with a full fellowship.
What an achievement, attending both Harvard and Stanford. Could you tell me about
your time writing your dissertation?
While at Stanford, I realized many immigrants lived on the other side of the freeway.
I then thought that maybe I could do Plan A while doing Plan B. There was a house
with five tool sheds in the backyard, with only one bathroom and 36 people living
there, and they wanted English lessons. I got a chalkboard from a local synagogue,
created study materials, rode my bike down there, and began teaching English. I did
this for about 18 months, then decided I should probably get on with my dissertation.
I wrote my dissertation on 14th-century philosophy, which meant I had to learn Latin,
and I compared and connected that with 19th-century English literature. I also spent
time presenting at conferences and attending church at St. Francis. While there, I
was approached by the priest who had heard I knew how to teach English. He said his
parishioners needed to learn English to obtain their amnesty, so I taught 204 people
English while completing my doctoral degree.
How did you get from California to Irving, Texas?
I actually moved to New York first with my husband and had three children there. Teaching
at the state school in New York was very difficult because I didn't know what the
students knew. It was an incoherent program. There was also increasing pressure on
free speech, and the university did not seem to care about the good life the students
ought to be living. What really drew me away was that the administration pressured
me to pass a student who had plagiarized. I applied to 60 universities, but when I
came across the University of Dallas, I thought they couldn't be serious about what
they say in the English department. I read an article written by everyone in the English
department to learn more about the school, and when I put down the last article, I
said to myself, "I don't know if people will hire me, but I'm so glad that work like
this is being done."
What has been your favorite class and/or book to teach at the University of Dallas?
My favorite class has to be my Hopkins and Philosophy class, and my favorite novel
is "Adam Bede" by George Eliot.
