Dr. Norman Lavers, an emeritus professor of English at, died on June 8 in Tucson. The university community has expressed condolences to his family, friends, and former colleagues.
Following his time in the U.S. Army, Lavers pursued a master's degree in English literature at San Francisco State University and later began his teaching career at Northern Illinois University. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa before joining the faculty at in 1976. He served on the university’s English department faculty for 24 years until retiring in 2000, when he was granted emeritus status.
During his tenure, Lavers published a novel, *The Northwest Passage,* as well as works on notable authors Mark Harris, Jerzy Kosinski, and Manuel Puig. His scholarly achievements earned him a place among the first 100 inductees on A-State’s Distinguished Faculty Wall of Honor during the university’s centennial celebration in 2009-10.
Lavers was a recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, one of which allowed him to live and write in Spain for a year. His literary accomplishments were further recognized with multiple awards, including the Porter Prize, the William Peden Prize, and O. Henry and Pushcart prizes. His passion for the natural world influenced his writing, with numerous essays published in *Bird Watcher’s Digest.*
Beyond his contributions to literature, Lavers engaged in the global academic community as a participant in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program, spending a year teaching in Thailand. He also left a lasting legacy at A-State as the first editor of *Arkansas Review* when the journal began publishing from its new home in Jonesboro.
The university plans to dim the clock tower of the Dean B. Ellis Library on Friday, July 24, in remembrance of Lavers and his contributions to Arkansas State and beyond. His work, both as an educator and a writer, continues to resonate in academia and in his community.