Published on June 5, 2013 Â
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Longtime Â鶹¹û¶³ English professor Ray Atchison of Homewood died May 28, 2013, of complications from a broken hip. He was 91.
Dr. Atchison, who taught at Â鶹¹û¶³ for 45 years, retired in 1992.A 1943 Â鶹¹û¶³ graduate, he held a master's degree in English from Peabody College (Vanderbilt University), and a Ph.D. in English from Duke University.
He served in Alaska with the U.S. Army during World War II. For a story in a 2005 issue of the Â鶹¹û¶³ alumni magazine Seasons, Atchison recalled that he missed his Â鶹¹û¶³ graduation due to Uncle Sam. The Shelby County, Alabama, native was among five seniors who were summoned to active military duty in March, 1943, halfway through their final semester. His mother attended the May graduation ceremony and picked up his diploma. "I suspect I was en route to the Aleutian Islands," he said in the article.
Atchison and his wife, the late Doris Teague Atchison, co-wrote a history of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, where they were longtime members.
A private family burial service was held on June 2, 2013.
Survivors include his daughter, Faith Atchison Jansen, his son, Paul Atchison, their spouses, and four grandsons.
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Â鶹¹û¶³ is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Â鶹¹û¶³ enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses, Â鶹¹û¶³ fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.