Richard F. Spall
Bishop Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award (2009)
Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Encouragement of Teachers (1992)
2008-2009 Commencement Ceremony Excerpt
I am delighted to announce that the winner of the Welch Award for the Year 2009 is professor of history, Dr. Richard Spall.
Richard received his B.A. in History from Wittenberg University and his masters (A.M.) and Ph.D. in History from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Richard’s major field of concentration is British history since 1688.
Since coming to Ohio Wesleyan in 1984, Dr. Spall has taught courses in the survey of Western Civilization, British History, Modern European History, and Economic History, among others.
Richard’s research is well published and since 1993 he has served as the book review editor for the journal, The Historian. He has reviewed over 2,000 books for the Historian, virtually every new book that comes out in the discipline. While serving in this capacity, he has donated nearly a million dollars worth of books to the Ohio Wesleyan library.
In the words of his students and I quote “it is evident that Dr. Spall loves to teach, he is exciting and makes coming to class fun.”
Another student comments “Dr. Spall’s extensive knowledge and experience on the subject combined with his sense of humor, makes his classes exciting. He is very informative and enthusiastic.”
Still another student describes her experience as “challenging, informative, stimulating, and memorable.”
Finally another former student contends “Spall is fantastic, truly my favorite professor at OWU. I doubt anyone could teach this course better!”
(Truly, little more can be said.)
Richard, congratulations!
News Release
OWU Selected to Host Book Review Section
The scholarly journal The Historian has selected Ohio Wesleyan University as the new host institution for its book review section.
Richard Spall, associate professor of history at Ohio Wesleyan, has been named the section’s editor for a six-year term beginning January 1994. He succeeds Phillip Thomas of Wichita State University, who held the post since 1973.
With more than 16,000 subscribers, The Historian has the largest circulation of any scholarly history journal in the United States and is one of only two journals which deal with all fields and epochs of history. The journal was begun in 1938 and is published quarterly by Phi Alpha Theta, the international honor society for history. This is the first time that a private liberal arts college has been selected to host the book review section.
Spall notes that having the section hosted at Ohio Wesleyan will benefit the university in a number of ways.
“It provides our history department with significant professional visibility and presents many opportunities for working with scholars and publishers throughout the English-speaking world,” Spall said. “Internships will be established in The Historian’s book review section office affording students valuable and practical experience in publishing.”
In addition, the already-significant history collection in Ohio Wesleyan’s Beeghly Library will be enhanced by the donation of an estimated 1,000 history volumes each year.
The book review section will maintain offices on the third floor of Slocum Hall on campus.