Two of our valued and respected colleagues retired from the Department of Spanish & Portuguese in May 2021. After many years of service to the department, the university, and the profession, Professors Ivy Corfis and David Hildner have opened a new chapter of their professional lives.
A specialist in medieval literature, Professor Corfis has prepared and published many articles and critical editions mainly of early Hispanic texts. She also has carried out digital humanities work on websites, with the goal of improving access to the texts of the past and integrating the philological tradition into the quickly evolving media and tools of the 21st century. In addition to serving as Department Chair from 2006-2010, Professor Corfis served on every one of our department’s committees over the years, and has chaired a good number of them. Her service to the university and to the profession has also been extensive.
Professor Hildner is a specialist in Early-Modern Spanish literature, with a widely acknowledged expertise in Spanish Baroque theatre, particularly in Calderonian studies. Over the course of his career, he has explored shifting sets of topics directly related to this field and has challenged commonly accepted critical views and strategies regarding early modern Spanish theatre. In his forty-one years as a member of the faculty of the Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Professor Hildner has sat on every one of our department’s committees, and, like Professor Corfis, has also chaired a good number of them. Professor Hildner has also provided extensive service to the university community, most recently to the Religious Studies Program.
Both Professor Corfis and Professor Hildner taught graduate- and undergraduate-level classes in the department on topics related to their research areas of specialization. They also taught advanced and intermediate Spanish language practice classes on a regular basis.
It is impossible to overestimate the great impact that Professors Corfis and Hildner have had on their students and their colleagues over the years that they taught in our department. We wholeheartedly thank them for the many contributions they have made to the department, the university, and the profession, and we wish Professors Corfis and Hildner well in their retirement. Their presence in the hallways and classrooms of Van Hise Hall will be missed.