Posted: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 2:36 pm

The College of Liberal Arts at MTSU will serve as host for a memorial service in honor of the late Dr. John Noble McDaniel, longtime dean of the college, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, in the Wright Music Building’s T. Hinton Hall.

Regarding the open memorial, Dr. Mark Byrnes, associate dean of the college, said the memorial is being held for several reasons.

“First, because the dean’s funeral took place May 7, 2010, after the end of the spring semester, this event will give people a chance to pay their respects during the regular academic year,” he explained.

“Also, because the dean was such a long and ardent supporter of the arts on campus, it is fitting that he will be honored with music and dance performances. In addition, a couple of the dean’s longtime friends who were unable to attend his funeral will speak; namely, former professors Bill Connelly (English) and Kendall Blanchard (sociology and anthropology).”    

A member of MTSU’s faculty since 1970, McDaniel joined the university’s English department as an assistant professor before ultimately becoming chairman in 1978. He was named dean of the College of Liberal Arts in 1984, a job he fulfilled with distinction throughout his tenure.

Before joining the MTSU faculty, McDaniel served as an instructor, graduate fellow and graduate-teaching assistant at Florida State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1972 and received Outstanding Teacher Award in 1966-67. Prior to his teaching duties at FSU, McDaniel was a teacher at McDonogh School, a co-educational day and boarding college preparatory school in Owing Mills, Md., from 1964 to ’66.

In addition to his doctorate, McDaniel earned a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Johns Hopkins University (1964) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampden-Sydney College (1963), where he graduated cum laude.

An accomplished scholar, McDaniel served as an associate editor and advisory board member to The Upstart Crow, a scholarly journal of Shakespeare studies, and as a consulting editor for Philip Roth Studies in 2009. He also was named as a Distinguished Member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars in ’09.

In 2008, he was the recipient of the Bob Womack Distinguished Faculty Award at MTSU and previously received MTSU’s Distinguished International Service Award, among other honors, including a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to complete The History of Folklore in Europe in 1981.

Born Jan. 30, 1941, McDaniel died May 3, 2010. He is survived by his wife Jean; two sons, Scott (wife Donetta) and Craig McDaniel; and three granddaughters.

Those who wish to make donations in McDaniel’s honor may direct them to the John N. McDaniel Teaching Excellence Award in care of Robyn Kilpatrick, MTSU Box 109, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132.

For more information about the Sept. 9 memorial, please contact the College of Liberal Arts by calling 615-494-7628.