Ursinus College is mourning the loss of a beloved history professor.
Dr. Richard King, associate professor of history, passed away on Monday, February 8th after an illness, according to a statement on Ursinus's website.
King was the first recipient of the H. Lloyd Jones Award for faculty mentoring, and is widely credited for helping multiple students win prestigious scholarships.
“If there was one thing I’m sure most students gained from their experiences with Dr. King it might not be Russian history but the passion and dedication that he brought to the school,” Christopher Goss, a Fulbright Fellow selected to teach in Turkey, said in the statement. “At the very least it was for me, and I’m deeply grateful to him for that.”
In a statement, Ross Doughty, professor of history, said King was an “easygoing guy but he cared immensely about the department.”
King was born in September of 1950. He earned his Ph.D at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and his M.A. and B.A. degrees at Michigan State University. He has taught at various colleges and universities, including Middlebury College and Memphis State University.
A celebration of King’s life will be held on February 27th at 1 p.m. in Bomberger Hall at Ursinus College. A reception will follow in the Berman Museum of Art, also on Ursinus’s campus.
