Kenneth Eugene Eble papers, 1923-1988

Kenneth Eugene Eble was born on December 6, 1923, in Shelby , Iowa, to George and Blanche Eble. There were six sisters and three brothers (including Kenneth Eugene) in the family. On June 12, 1949, Kenneth married Peggy Ann Leach in Avoca, Iowa. They were the parents of a daughter, Melissa, and two sons, Geoffrey and James.

Eble earned his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D from Columbia University. A veteran of World War II, Eble served with the 103rd Infantry Division in France and Germany following the Allied invasion at Normandy on D-Day.

After teaching at Upper Iowa, Columbia, and Drake Universities, he joined the English Department at the University if Utah in 1955 where he taught American Literature, English, and the Humanities.

He loved the mountains and the outdoors. He was an active tennis player, hiker, and skier. He taught a course in literature of the mountains.

Eble was widely respected in education circles for his scholarship and publications, his teaching excellence, and his general service to the University, the community, and his profession. He was active in programs to bring English teachers in high schools together with their counterparts in college and universities. He served as chairman of the Department of English from 1964 to 1969. He spent most of the next two years on unpaid sabbatical helping develop stronger undergraduate programs for the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges. Eble was the University's first appointee as University Professor, a position created to nourish undergraduate teaching (1976-1977).

Recognized world-wide for his efforts to improve college teaching, he consulted and spoke on faculty development nationally and internationally, and served on several national advisory panels. William Mulder, a friend and colleague, said that the service for Eble, "Passages from his writing on the craft of teaching are widely quoted and have provided themes and slogans for conferences, workshops, panels, and symposia...which frequently featured him as keynote speaker."

He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree in 1973 by St. Francis College in Maine. HE was appointed by the Danforth Foundation to the Danforth Associates Program, which was established in the 1970s to improve student-faculty relations and strengthen teaching-learning programs.

In the spring of 1986, Eble was Visiting Robinson Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax , Virginia.

He was a tireless advocate of quality undergraduate education. "The teacher whose door is open, literally not figuratively, some hours of every day; who is even on campus every day; who willingly talks with students after class; who is not always hurriedly rushing to or from important concerns that crowd students out; who finds ways of affecting students' learning outside the classroom--such a teacher's acts will speak louder than an testimony." (Eble, The Craft of Teaching, 2nd ed., 1988, p.63)

Eble served as field editor for the Twayne author series of books, held numerous other editorships, and was a frequent contributor to Chronicle of Higher Education. He is the author of numerous books and articles. His books include The Profane Comedy, The Aims of College Teaching, The Craft of Teaching, and Old Clemens and W.D.H., the story of Mark Twain's long-time friendship with writer and editor William Dean Howells.

Eble had finished a manuscript titled "How to Read Thoreau," which is expected to be published at a future date.

He died in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, October 19, 1988, of complications following heart surgery. He was 64.