This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
Our Colleagues

Obituaries

Published: October 28, 2010

Ann S. Haskell, professor emeritus of English, died Oct. 22 of cancer in her home in Charlottesville, Va. She was 81.

A native of Washington, D.C., Haskell grew up in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Va. While raising three children on her own, she was among the first women to graduate from Clemson University and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Graduate Fellowship.

She received her doctorate with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964. She taught for 37 years in the UB English department, specializing in Chaucer and medieval life and literature, as well as in children’s literature. She retired from UB in 2000.

Among her many academic publications are the books “Essays on Chaucer’s Saints” and “A Middle English Anthology,” which has been in print since 1969. She also served as an advisor and mentor to hundreds of students over the years.

Haskell published op-ed columns, personal essays and articles on food and numerous other subjects in such periodicals as the Smithsonian, The Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun and The New York Times.

She maintained a home in Provence in southern France for 40 years, and she and her husband, Richard Koepsell, a faculty member at Erie Community College, led a four-week, 10-credit summer program to Provence for UB and ECC students interested in studying French language and culture.

A memorial service will be held in Charlottesville.

Donations in Haskell’s name may be made to Caring for Creatures or the Fluvanna SPCA.