Dr. Eugene Zumwalt, professor emeritus of English, passed away on July 27 in Tollhouse. He was 99.

A specialist in Renaissance and medieval literatures, including the works of William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer, Zumwalt taught courses in literature and nonfiction prose writing at Fresno State from 1959 to 1999. He was a published essayist and poet, and he ran his own printing press.

According to a family obituary published in The Fresno Bee, Zumwalt was a “dedicated and demanding professor,” and he was instrumental in the establishment of the California Faculty Association. Throughout his career, colleagues recognized him as a strong voice for faculty governance, and he served multiple terms on the university’s Academic Senate.

Zumwalt also served as chair of the English Department during the tumultuous early 1970s, during which time he fiercely defended academic freedom and faculty rights, as the campus emerged from anti-war protests and the Civil Rights Movement the decade before.

According to Dr. Lisa Weston, a professor of English, Zumwalt as a colleague “embodied institutional memory and the English Department’s heritage of defending intellectual freedom.” She counts herself blessed to have served with Zumwalt in the Academic Senate, where he “championed the rights and responsibilities of faculty governance.”

Nearly 25 years after his retirement, Zumwalt remains a presence in the English Department, Weston said. In 2013, an anonymous community donor made a gift to Fresno State to establish the Eugene Zumwalt English Scholarship in his honor. Since 2015, the department has recognized 35 English majors as Zumwalt Scholars, honoring their academic excellence. The endowed scholarships in Zumwalt’s name will continue to be awarded annually, in perpetuity.

Memorial services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be made to the Fresno State English Department. Checks can be made to the Fresno State Foundation, with “Eugene Zumwalt Scholarship” in the memo, and mailed to 2380 E. Keats Ave., MB99, Fresno, CA 93740. For questions about donations, call 559.278.6858.

To read a full remembrance story about Zumwalt, visit the College of Arts and Humanities blog.