Humanities Alumni Spotlight:

English Alumna Lends Her Expertise

Alumni are invaluable resources to their alma mater. Their firsthand knowledge of the College makes them wonderful advocates and advisors as we go about fulfilling our mission of teaching, research, and service. There are many ways of supporting the College and many alumni choose to partner with their home departments, lending their time and expertise to special projects as needed.

One such person is Esther Nettles Rauch (MA '79, PhD '83) an inaugural member of the Department of English Alumni Advisory Board. Rauch's distinguished career began at Ohio State with her dissertation on English poet and dramatist John Dryden, one of the few African Americans worldwide to do so. Professor Emeritus Charles (Wally) Maurer served as her dissertation director. Currently retired, Rauch is a former professor of English at the University of Maine, and she inaugurated the Constance H. Carlson Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at Husson College in Bangor, Maine. She is also a former member of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees, the Eastern Maine Medical Center and Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems Boards, the Maine Humanities Council, the Farnsworth Museum Board, the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, and a former vice-president of the Bangor Theological Seminary. She is married to Dr. Charles F. (Chick) Rauch Jr., Rear Admiral, United States Navy, also an Ohio State alumnus.

Like all of the members of the Department of English Alumni Board, Rauch has a strong desire to give back to Ohio State. In particular, she volunteered for the task of increasing capital for the Edward P.J. Corbett Fund, which provides fellowships for the research and writing of Ph.D. dissertations. This task was one for which she was well suited; throughout her career and her travels around the world, Rauch has held dear her memories as a student in Professor Corbett's class. Known nationally for creating the discipline of composition studies, Corbett taught for 23 years at Ohio State and his former students continue to share anecdotes, commonly called "Ed Corbett Stories." Radiating the same generosity of spirit as Ed Corbett, Rauch's efforts have been successful in increasing the Corbett Fund by thousands of dollars. She is a tremendous asset to the Department of English and truly one of the College's most treasured resources.