Professor of English John Rudy retires
May 25, 2007
Story and photo by Ed Faunce
KOKOMO, Ind.—“I am going to miss the students. They gave me some of my best ideas.” So says Professor of English John Rudy, Ph.D., who is wrapping up his last semester at Indiana University Kokomo. Not only a teacher but an author of three books on literature and philosophy, Rudy gives his students much credit for raising ideas in class that he later researched and published.
Talking about his pre-college days, Rudy admits he was not a very good example as a student. “I was always in trouble,” Rudy said as he surveyed his office in IU Kokomo’s Main Building. “I would skip class and go home to read on my own.” Rudy’s tough guy, loner image in high school, always fighting the system, belied a real love for literature. When he graduated high school, he “straightened up” and began a collegiate career that has spanned more than three decades. Getting his undergraduate degree from State University College New York (New Paltz), Rudy was then offered a fellowship to Penn State University to study early English literature. From Penn State, Rudy finally achieved his doctorate in 1971.
Junior John Stanifer appreciates Dr. Rudy’s eccentricities. Stanifer said that, when Rudy enters a classroom, he’s likely to start his lecture by saying, “This is a good looking class. I think I’ll hang around a while.”
Graduate student Joseph Abney, who will be going to Purdue in the fall to study history and English literature, says Rudy is an invaluable asset to IU Kokomo. “He will be greatly missed,” Abney said. “He stresses the importance of literary criticism in his classroom, and he nurtures creativity rather than conformity.
“He has had an enormous impact on my collegiate career. I respect and admire Dr. Rudy’s method of instruction. He is a wonderful mentor as well as a great friend.”
Colleague Terri Bourus, Ph.D., also a published author and associate professor of English, calls Dr. Rudy “the real deal.” Bourus contends that Rudy’s mentoring to her when she started teaching at IU Kokomo was quite welcome. “John is not just a great teacher, but also a scholar who shows how intertwined scholarship and research are to being an effective teacher.”
Dr. Rudy’s accomplishments as a scholar are as prolific as his teaching career. He wrote and successfully defended the proposal for the campus’ Bachelor of Arts in English degree at IU Kokomo. He has written three books, Wordsworth and the Zen Mind; The Poetry of Self –Emptying, Romanticism and Zen Buddhism; and Emerson and Zen Buddhism, along with many articles in scholarly journals.
“I think I may have two more book in me,” said Rudy. When asked about other plans he might have after retiring, Rudy paused, then said, “I want to live life more poetically. It is time to explore different dimensions of a literary lifestyle.”
