Jan Pallister named Doctor of Letters

Bowling Green State University on March 19 conferred an honorary degree upon one of its most distinguished faculty members. Janis L. Pallister, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Romance Languages, was named a Doctor of Letters, honoris
causa.

The event was held in the Pallister Conference Room of Jerome Library. President Ribeau and Ralph Wolfe, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus of film studies and Gish Professor of Film Studies and a longtime colleague of Pallister’s, presented the citation.

Pallister’s long career has spanned several continents, four languages and multiple disciplines. Her legacy at the University is as profound as the depth of her intellect. And, as anyone who knows her can testify, she is a person of extraordinary energy and talent. As a colleague wrote in recommending her for the University Professor award in 1979, “Her writings would encompass mankind if she did not discipline her wide-ranging concerns and curiosity.”

Poet, translator, literary scholar, critic, philanthropist and champion of French-speaking artists around the world, Pallister’s contributions to the University and to the world of intellectuals are great. A tangible example on the BGSU campus is the Pallister Conference Room in Jerome Library, which bears her name in recognition of her longstanding and generous support of the library and her 1996 donation which funded the restoration of the building’s signature but decaying exterior murals.

Before coming to Bowling Green in 1961, Pallister had already written five books; she went on to produce 25 more books, dozens of articles, translations of poems in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and other languages (notably works by African and Caribbean writers), her own poetry, reviews and essays. Her work has been supported by numerous grants and awards, including a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Since her retirement in 1985 she has continued a vigorous schedule of research and publishing, including her most recent book, The Art and Genius of Anne Hébert: Night and the Day Are One, in 2001.

A specialist in French Renaissance literature, she is equally interested in modern writers and filmmakers, and has traveled widely in pursuit of her scholarly and social interests. She received a Senior Fellowship from the Government of Canada for research on her book about Québécois filmmakers. She has also been noted for bringing attention to little-known writers in Third World countries. Her 1999 book, Francophone Women Film Directors: A Guide, identified directors from Finland to the Caribbean.

Pallister was named Distinguished University Professor of Romance Languages by the BGSU Board of Trustees in 1979, the same year in which she received the Ohio Education Association’s Human Relations Award. The University Professorship is the highest honor given to BGSU faculty, and is awarded only to faculty who hold the rank of professor and whose creative and professional achievements have won national distinction and recognition beyond the limitations of a narrow field of interest.

She was named an “Honorary Alumnus” in 1997 by the Bowling Green Alumni Association, and received the 1992 Faculty Scholar Award from the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society. In 1995 she received a lifetime achievement award from the International Council for Francophone Studies.

Pallister’s service to the University has also been wide-ranging and included departmental chairmanship as well as membership on numerous departmental, college and University committees.

In 1985, Pallister created the Edith Pallister Memorial Lectureship in honor of her mother. This lectureship was ultimately converted to the Edith Pallister Memorial Scholarship in Continuing Education, International and Summer Programs. In 1991 the first students received awards from that scholarship. Three years ago, Pallister established the Pallister Quebec Authors Series, which welcomes noted Canadian authors to the campus.

Taken together, Pallister’s career exemplifies the values of scholarship and humanism that make her the ideal recipient of the Doctor of Letters honorary degree.