HPU Honors English Professor with Ruth Ridenhour Scholarly and Professional Achievement Award
High Point University recently presented the Ruth Ridenhour Scholarly and Professional Achievement Award to Dr. Laura Alexander, associate professor of English. Pictured from left are HPU President Dr. Nido Qubein holding the award with Alexander, center, and Provost Dr. Daniel Erb.
HIGH POINT, N.C., May 15, 2024 – High Point University recently presented the Ruth Ridenhour Scholarly and Professional Achievement Award to Dr. Laura Alexander, associate professor of English. The annual award recognizes a full-time faculty member with at least three years employment at HPU for exceptional contributions to his or her professional discipline.
Since Alexander joined the HPU family in 2012, she has been consistently described by her colleagues and students as a model scholar, excellent teacher and mentor of students and scholars of the future.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award and am thankful to my colleagues for selecting me,” said Alexander. “I also want to acknowledge the librarians at HPU for their support and dedication to faculty scholarship. We have many talented faculty members at HPU, and I am fortunate to work alongside a community of kind and knowledgeable peers.”
Alexander is an exceptionally productive scholar, said HPU Provost Dr. Daniel Erb. Her primary field of research is in 18th century British literature. Her publications include four single-authored books and two edited volumes on the literature of the 18th century. Four of these books have been published in the last six years.
In addition, Alexander has written 37 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters – 25 of which have been published since she arrived at HPU. Her manuscripts have appeared in such prestigious journals as “Eighteenth-Century Fiction,” “Theory and Practice in English Studies,” “English Studies,” “Renascence” and “ANQ.”
Alexander also has contributed 35 peer-reviewed conference presentations, eight invited talks and 11 published reviews. Her research and writing are closely connected to her teaching, directly informing the 10 courses she has developed for HPU’s English majors, Honors Scholars students and the general education curriculum. Her wide-ranging research interests have been particularly relevant to her many courses on British literature and culture, fairy tales and women writers.
She twice has held national fellowships from the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies for research at the Folger Shakespeare Library. She has been invited to present her research throughout the United States and Europe.
Alexander is also known as an extraordinary mentor. Several students expressed their gratitude toward her while nominating her for the Ruth Ridenhour Scholarly and Professional Achievement Award.
“Recently, I submitted my first and only essay for journal review based on the recommendation of Dr. Alexander to do so,” one student wrote. “Without Dr. Alexander, I would have been hopelessly lost, so much so I hadn’t even thought to attempt it without her encouragement.”
Another student said, “Dr. Alexander has had a strong influence on my life, education and career path. She was the first to encourage me to apply for the Fulbright grant that I received last summer and am currently completing. Her words of encouragement and the skills she taught me are things I continue to use across the globe.”