Wilson presented Reinhardt Award at WFU

By Maggie Barrett
336.758.5237
Oct. 6, 2005

Wake Forest University presented the Jon Reinhardt Award for Distinguished Teaching to Provost Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of English Ed Wilson at a reception Sept. 23 during the university's Homecoming Weekend.

Ed Wilson

The award is presented annually at Wake Forest and is given to a faculty member who is nominated by alumni for their impact on students' lives and educations at Wake Forest.

Wilson, a long time English professor and administrator known affectionately as "Mr. Wake Forest" among generations of Wake Forest alumni, has been associated with the university since he entered as a freshman in 1939 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1943.

A half-century of continuous service to the university began in 1951 when Wilson started teaching English full-time. Between 1943 and 1951, Wilson served as a U.S. Navy officer in World War II, taught a year at Wake Forest and earned a master's degree and a doctorate in English at Harvard University.

Throughout his career, Wilson held numerous high-level administrative positions while earning recognition as a much-admired English professor specializing in British Romantic Poets.