In Memoriam: Eva Maria Stadler

Eva Stadler, associate professor of English and comparative literature emerita at the Fordham University campus at Lincoln Center in New York City, died on August 11.

Dr. Stadler was a native of Prague in what is now the Czech Republic. After coming to the United States and earning a Ph.D. in French at Columbia University, Dr. Stadler taught French and German and was chair of the department of modern languages at Manhattan Community College. In 1968, when Fordham University founded its Lincoln Center campus, Dr. Stadler joined the faculty there. She later served as chair of the department of modern and classical languages and chair of the Division of Humanities. She retired from teaching in 2009.

“Eva Stadler had a genius for program building,” said Anne Hoffman, professor of English at Fordham University. “In the early years of the College at Lincoln Center, she shaped the interdisciplinary Humanities Division and helped it develop into a strong and collegial unit. Eva was deeply committed to interdisciplinary research and coursework. In her years of service as chair, as member of innumerable hiring committees, and at times of institutional change, Eva could always be counted on to supply the vision that is vital to curricular innovation.”

Lawrence Kramer, Distinguished Professor of English at Fordham, added that “she was a real community-builder and a personal model of generosity and intellectual adventurousness.”