J. Horace Nunemaker was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on December 4, 1897. He received his A.B. from Colgate University in 1920. Between 1920 and 1921 Nunemaker served as an instructor in French and Spanish at Cazenovia Seminary. In 1921, he accepted an appointment as an associate professor of modern languages at Denison College. It was from Denison that he received his M.A. in 1922. He remained there until 1926 when he went to the University of Wisconsin to teach Spanish. He earned his Ph.D. in 1928 while at the University of Wisconsin. That same year he came to Washington State University (then College) as professor of foreign languages and chairman of the department. At the time of his death he was serving as Chairman of the Division of Humanities. Professor Nunemaker was an active collector of materials for the library relating to Hispanic-American civilization. In his honor, the Board of Regents established the J. Horace Nunemaker Hispanic-American Collection within the library. As a scholar with a reputation in old Spanish literature and Spanish-American cultural history, Professor Nunemaker published over fifty articles, reviews, and textbooks. He died on June 24, 1949.