Bruce Morton papers, 1964-2025

Bruce Morton is a poet and former Dean of the Montana State University Library. He was born in New York City on September 14, 1947, and grew up in North Arlington, New Jersey. He graduated in 1965 from Loyalsock Township High School in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and then earned his BA (1969) and MA (1973) in English from Pennsylvania State University. In 1974, Morton earned an MLS (1974) from State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Morton served in the U.S. Army from May 5, 1969, until June 9, 1972, having enlisted after receiving his draft notice. Seven months after his enlistment his birthday was the first drawn in the initial draft lottery. After doing basic infantry training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he completed a 47-week intensive Russian language course at the Defense Language Institute, Monterrey, California. He then completed a three-month course of technical training at Goodfellow /Air Force Base, San Angelo, Texas, before being posted as a Russian voice intercept operator to U.S. Army Security Agency out-station Wobeck, Schöningen, West Germany, which was located directly on the border between West and East Germany. He served there from January 1971 until honorably separating from the military.

In 1975, Morton took a position as an Education Planner with the Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board located in Salamanca, NY. The project and position were funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. From July 1976 to June 1977 he served as a sabbatical replacement in the Cataloging Department in the library at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. From July 1977 through 1984, Morton was a government documents librarian at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he also did general library instruction and reference work. In 1983, he was appointed to a three-year term on the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer of the United States.

Morton came to Montana State University in December, 1984, as Head of the Reference Department. He served as Assistant Dean for Public Services in 1989, and became Dean of the MSU Library in August of 1993, serving in that capacity until July, 2007, when he relinquished the position. From mid-2007 until his retirement at the end of 2009, he served MSU as the Associate Director of the Honors Program and also co-chaired the preparation for the university's decennial accreditation.

At MSU, Morton was the first member of the library faculty to achieve the rank of full Professor. He is credited with the formation of the Friends of the MSU Libraries in 1994, the establishment of ESIG (EPSCoR Science Information Group) in 2001, and creation of the first development and advancement program to build endowments for the MSU Libraries and its collections. He spearheaded the first major renovation of the library during 2000-2001. Throughout his tenure as Dean of Libraries, he continued to teach at least one Honors Seminar per year, primarily Texts and Critics. He also taught the College of Letters and Sciences Freshman Seminar. Upon retirement, the Board of Regents granted him the titles of Dean and Professor Emeritus.

Morton continues to write and publish his poetry, dividing his time between Montana and Arizona. He is the author of three poetry collections: Olive-drab Khaki Blues (FootHills Publishing, 2025), Planet Mort (FootHills Publishing, 2024), and Simple Arithmetic & Other Artifices (Christopher Matthews Publishing, 2014). He also authored Halley's Comet, 1755-1984 (Greenwood Press, 1985) and a bibliography, John Gould Fletcher (Kent State University Press, 1979). His poems have appeared in numerous online and print publications, including Spoon River Quarterly, Kansas Quarterly, Cincinnati Poetry Review, ONE ART, Grey Sparrow Journal, Ibbetson Street, Galway Review, and Muddy River Poetry Review.

He is married to Barbara [Bärbel] (née Günther) Morton, and has a son, Jeremy Thomas Morton, and a daughter, Anika Morton Stern.