William Sylvester

Published June 29, 2016 This content is archived.

William A. Sylvester, professor emeritus in the Department of English, died June 12. He was 98.

A poet and fiction writer, Sylvester was a member of the UB faculty for 23 years, serving in a variety of positions, including acting chair of the English department. He retired in 1988.

A prolific poet, Sylvester counted “War and Lechery: The Poem” among his favorites.

He delivered numerous lectures and readings at colleges and universities across the country, and served as writer- or poet-in-residence at several Buffalo public schools, as well as at Ashland University.

He was known in particular for penning poems for colleagues upon their retirement, and was remembered similarly by his student poets in a volume published by the UB Poetry Collection.

A native of Washington, D.C., Sylvester received an MA in English from the University of Chicago and a PhD in English from the University of Minnesota.

Before joining the UB faculty in 1965, he taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Oregon, Kansas State College, Fenn College (now Cleveland State University), Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University.

A memorial service will take place in the fall at UB.