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A&S Hall of Fame 2017 - Dr. Daniel R. Reedy

Daniel R. Reedy, Professor Emeritus of Spanish and Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School, University of Kentucky, was born on a farm in Clark County, Illinois. Reedy earned a B.A. in Spanish, English, and Latin in 1957 from Eastern Illinois University. He subsequently earned an M.A. in Spanish (1959) and Ph.D. in Latin American Literature and Linguistics (1962) from the University of Illinois. He received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from EIU in 1981, and was named Distinguished Alumnus of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1999.

Reedy began his professional career in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. In 1967, he and fellow faculty members moved from Chapel Hill to Lexington to develop the Ph.D. program in Spanish at the University of Kentucky. His instructional assignments have included all levels of language and literature, from beginning Spanish to advanced graduate seminars. During his tenure, he was primary mentor to 45 Ph.D. recipients with major interests in Latin America. In 1979, he received the William B. Sturgill Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education.

A specialist in the fields of Colonial Latin American and Modern Peruvian Literatures, Reedy’s contacts with Peru began as a Rotary International Fellow in 1959 with pre-doctoral studies at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima. Research for his three books on Peruvian Literature and more than forty articles was supported in part by a Fulbright Research Fellowship (1966–67) and a grant from the Social Sciences Research Council (1971). He was also a Contributing Editor to the Library of Congress Handbook of Latin American Studies from 1965 to 1990, and served as President of the South Eastern Council on Latin American Studies from 1986 to 87.

In 1975–76, Reedy was awarded an American Council on Education Fellowship in Academic Administration under the mentorship of President Otis A. Singletary. Subsequently, his assignments included seven years as Department Chair, followed by thirteen years in the Graduate School—first as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (1983–88) and next as Dean (1988–96). During 1994–95 he served as President of the Midwestern Council of Graduate Deans; the Council of Southern Graduate Schools recognized him in 1999 for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education in the South.

Despite his commitment to administrative assignments, Reedy never abandoned his love for the classroom. During only one academic year of his professional career was he absent from teaching responsibilities. Following his retirement as dean, Reedy was twice elected by university faculty to the UK Board of Trustees (1997–2001), where he was twice elected board secretary.

Since retirement from UK, Dan and his wife, Nancy, have enjoyed travel in the United States, Europe, Caribbean, and South America, including a trek in the Amazon and sailing around Cape Horn. His anecdotal youthful memories appeared in serial form in his hometown weekly, The Marshall Advocate, and were published in 2006 as a collection entitled Growin’ Up on Big Crick.