In Memoriam: Carolyn Rhodes, 1925-2019

Carolyn Rhodes, professor emerita of English and women’s studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, passed away on March 24, 2019. She was 93 years old.

Dr. Rhodes joined the faculty at Old Dominion University in 1965. While at ODU, she was selected as a Fulbright lecturer for American literature at Babes-Bolyai University in Romania and at Peking University in Beijing, China. She also founded the university’s Women’s Caucus, Friends of Women’s Studies, and the Feminist Education Trust Fund.  She served as principal investigator for the Women’s Studies Pilot Grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which established the university’s women’s studies program as the first of its kind in Virginia.

For her success in academia, Dr. Rhodes received numerous awards throughout her career including recognition as a Woman of the Distinction by the YWCA of Southhampton Roads, “Teacher of the Year” by Delta Sigma Lambda, and election to lifetime membership by the Kentucky Psychological Association. She was also a recipient of the Higgins Teaching Fellowship.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Rhodes was a graduate of the University of Alabama where she earned two bachelor’s degrees in psychology and English. She held a master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University in New York City, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in English from the University of Kentucky.