Gerald Howard Thorson, Professor Emeritus of English, died January 7, 2001 at age 79.
Jerry started his career in education as an English instructor at Augsburg College in 1946. He received his M.A. at the University of Minnesota in 1948 and was awarded his Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature by Columbia University in 1957.
Jerry joined the faculty at St. Olaf College in 1964 and retired in 1986. In addition to teaching in and heading the English Department, at various times he was chair of the Language and Literature Division and acting chair of the German Department. He published more than 125 articles, reviews, poems and translations, had jsut completed an English translation of the Norwegian book, The Saloonkeeper’s Daughter, scheduled to be published by Johns Hopkins Press later this year.