Popular Professor to to Leave English Department

Rebecca L. Krug, a popular assistant professor of English and American Literature and Language, will leave Harvard at the end of the school year to accept a tenure track position at the University of Minnesota.

The English department has consistently struggled with a high turnover rate among junior Faculty members, who are rarely tenured within the department.

And Krug--an expert on late medieval studies whose book on medieval women's literacy will be published soon--said she believes the department ought to tenure more junior Faculty.

"I don't think the solution is to tenure one person every 13 years but to commit to tenuring junior people as other institutions do," she said.

"I loved teaching here and had fabulous colleagues in medieval studies," she added. "Although there are serious structural problems with the tenure situation, my personal experience at Harvard has been very positive aside from some departmental concerns."

At the University of Minnesota, Krug will teach classes on medieval drama, as well as Minnesota's version of English 10a: "Major British Writers I," the first basic course required of all English concentrators.

Members of her Harvard classes said they will miss an instructor who brought unusual enthusiasm to an esoteric subject.

"I never liked medieval literature. I'm still not sure that I do. But for a semester, Becky convinced me that it was the most interesting, exciting thing in the world," said Sonja Nikkila '02, an English concentrator. "And I was happy to be convinced--her class was one of the best things that ever happened to me."

"She's awesome...a really good teacher and good at getting the students to like the material and have fun with it," added Ollie M. Lewis '00, who took two courses with Krug.

Krug's English department colleagues also praised her scholarship and teaching abilities.

"Krug was a great asset to our department, and all her colleagues, especially the medievalists, are sad to lose her--but happy that this excellent appointment is a well-deserved advancement of [Krug's] career," said Professor of English and Folklore Joseph C. Harris, who serves as director of undergraduate studies in the English department.

"Students know her as a tremendously dedicated teacher, attuned to their welfare, and I'm sure she'll bring those same qualities to her new position in Minnesota," said Professor of English and American Literature and Language Daniel G. Donoghue.

Donoghue said Krug is putting the finishing touches on her book, which he said "will deepen our understanding of the role of literacy in late medieval England."

Krug received her undergraduate degree from Grinnell College in Iowa, and said her time there helped shape her as an educator today.

She then completed her graduate studies at the University of Indiana, an institution that she said "has a strong commitment to medieval studies."

"It was really a wonderful place to study medieval literature and culture," she said.