Milton, Mass., native Lee Morrissey named Alumni Distinguished Professor at Clemson University

Published: September 22, 2009

Lee Morrissey image by: Clemson University

CLEMSON, S.C. — Lee Morrissey, professor and chairman of the English department at Clemson University, has been named Alumni Distinguished Professor.

Morrissey, who has been teaching at Clemson since 1995, was one of six faculty members to receive the distinction this year. Since 1962, the Alumni Association has named Alumni Distinguished Professors to recognize, reward and support excellence in teaching at Clemson. The designation carries a $5,000 yearly stipend made possible by alumni gifts to the Clemson Fund.

Provost Doris Helms presented Morrissey with the honor at Clemson’s opening convocation ceremony in August.

Morrissey’s interests include John Milton, Restoration and 18^th century English literature, the Enlightenment, the early English novel, early modern democratic political theory and relationships among the arts. He is the author of two books, “From the Temple to the Castle,” on authors who also were architects, and “The Constitution of Literature,” on the history of literary criticism. He is co-author of “English Literature in Context,” a textbook; editor of “Debating the Canon”; and author of several journal articles.

Morrissey grew up in Milton, Mass., and received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English from Boston College. He went on to receive his master’s in English, master’s in history, Master of Philosophy in English and comparative literature, and Ph.D. in English and comparative literature from Columbia University. At Clemson, he is a past recipient of the Student Government Teacher of Excellence Award and the Gentry Award for Distinguished Teaching in the Humanities.

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