View source for W. R. Johnson

{{Short description|American classical scholar (1933–2024)}}
{{infobox academic
| image = WR Johnson Chicago.jpg
| caption = Photographed in 1984
| alt =A man with a full beard in a suit and tie
| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|07|09}}
| birth_place = [[Trinidad, Colorado]], United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|04|13|1933|07|09}}
| notable_works = ''[[Darkness Visible: A Study of Vergil's Aeneid]]'' (1976)
| alma_mater = [[University of California, Berkeley]]
| workplaces = {{plainlist|*[[University of California, Berkeley]]
*[[Cornell University]]
*[[University of Chicago]]
}}
| discipline = [[Classical studies]]
| sub_discipline = [[Latin poetry]]
}}
'''Walter Ralph Johnson''' (July 9, 1933 – April 13, 2024), commonly known as '''W. Ralph Johnson''' and published as '''W. R. Johnson''', was an American classicist. He was the John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Classics at the [[University of Chicago]] from 1989 to 1998.
== Career ==
Born in [[Trinidad, Colorado]], on July 9, 1933, Johnson studied at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], graduating BA in 1961 and MA in 1963 before completing his PhD there in 1967. He taught at Berkeley from 1966 to 1974, then [[Cornell University]] until 1981. He was then professor of classical languages and literatures at the University of Chicago from 1981 to 1988;<ref name="obit">{{Cite news |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/w-ralph-johnson-pre-eminent-uchicago-critic-latin-poetry-1933-2024 |title=W. Ralph Johnson, Pre-Eminent UChicago Critic of Latin Poetry, 1933‒2024 |work=UChicago News |date=10 May 2024 |publisher=[[University of Chicago]] |first=Sara |last=Patterson |access-date=1 June 2024}}</ref> in 1989, he became the John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor at Chicago.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://campub-test.lib.uchicago.edu/view/?docId=mvol-0002-0081-0003#page/37/mode/1up |title=Ten Faculty Receive Chair Professorships |work=University of Chicago Magazine |volume=81 |issue=3|date=March 1989 |pp=35–36 |access-date=1 June 2024 |publisher=[[University of Chicago]] }}</ref> He retired in 1998, remaining an [[emeritus]] professor at Chicago until his death on April 13, 2024.<ref name="obit"/>
== Published works ==
* W. R. Johnson, ''Luxuriance and Economy: Cicero and the Alien Style'', University of California Publications in Classical Studies, 6 (Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1971)
* W. R. Johnson, ''[[Darkness Visible: A Study of Vergil's Aeneid]]'' (Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1976)
* W. R. Johnson, ''The Idea of Lyric: Lyric Modes in Ancient and Modern Poetry'' (Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1982)
* W. R. Johnson, ''Momentary Monsters: Lucan and His Heroes'' (Ithaca and London: [[Cornell University Press]], 1987)
* W. R. Johnson, ''Horace and the Dialectic of Freedom: Readings in ''Epistles 1 (Ithaca and London: [[Cornell University Press]], 1993)
* W. R. Johnson, ''Lucretius and the Modern World'' (London: [[Duckworth Books|Duckworth]], 2000)
* W. R. Johnson, '' A Latin Lover in Ancient Rome: Readings in Propertius and His Genre'' (Columbus: [[Ohio State University Press]], 2009)
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
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[[Category:American classical scholars]]
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty]]
[[Category:Cornell University faculty]]
[[Category:University of Chicago faculty]]
[[Category:People from Trinidad, Colorado]]
[[Category:Academics from Colorado]]