Alumni Spotlight - Dr. Ronald Rompkey
Dr. Ronald Rompkey, University Research Professor in the Department of English, has been elected a fellow in the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) - considered the highest academic accolade in the country.
Dr. Rompkey is among the 82 new fellows chosen this year and only
the eighth Memorial faculty member ever to achieve this honour. The
RSC elects members from all branches of learning who have achieved
national and international recognition by publishing learned works or
original research in the arts, humanities and sciences. Founded in
1882, the RSC currently has a membership of about 1800 fellows.
“This provides the opportunity to be a member of a wide
community of scholars,” Dr. Rompkey said. However, he believes
the greatest benefit is the validation that the fellowship confers.
“It's meant to recognize the accomplishments of those well
advanced in their careers,” he explains, noting that following
his nomination, there was “a long, arduous process of
triage.”
Nominations are peer-reviewed by current fellows who, according to
the RSC, must follow criteria based solely on the quality of the
nominee's research and scholarly achievement. In electing Dr.
Rompkey, the RSC cited his diverse literary accomplishments in
18th-century literature, medical life writing and the French travel
narrative.
“This is an important recognition of the work, and it allows an
opportunity to continue that work,” noted Dr. Rompkey, who
holds a master's in English Literature from Memorial and a doctorate
from the University of London. He joined Memorial's faculty in 1984
after working at the universities of Victoria, Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Lethbridge and Maine. In 2003, he was made an Officer of the Order of
Canada.
Much of his work has focused on the literature, arts and culture of
Newfoundland. He is the author of a biography of Sir Wilfred Grenfell
and the editor of several other publications, including Reginald
Shepherd & Helen Parson Shepherd: A Life Composed, which was
named the Best Atlantic Published Book for 2006.
Dr. Rompkey is currently compiling and editing a collection of correspondence written by Charles Riballier Des Isles, who served - albeit unhappily - as the French consul posted in St. John's from 1885-1903. The dispatches cover 18 years of rich territory in Newfoundland's history, including a bank crash, ministerial scandal and the great fire of 1892. And as with Dr. Rompkey's earlier work, Terre-Neuve: anthologie des voyageurs français,1814-1914, this collection offers a French perspective that has been largely overlooked in the documentation of the province's history.
Dr. Rompkey has been awarded a Standard Research Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to continue this work; he begins a year-long sabbatical in September.
When the RSC inducts its new Fellows in November, actor Gordon Pinsent, an honorary doctor of Memorial University, will also be among them. Mr. Pinsent has been elected to the newly created Division of the Arts.