J. Douglas Bruce, University of Tennessee English professor and noted authority on Anglo-Saxon literature, held the chair in English at UT from 1900 until his death in 1923. A native of Staunton Hill, Va., Dr. Bruce was born on December 9, 1862 into one of the leading families of the state. After receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Virginia (the latter in 1883), he studied at the Universities of Berlin (1886-1888) and Strasburg (1888). He returned to the U. S. in 1888 where he continued his studies at Johns Hopkins (1889-1890). He was subsequently awarded his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1894. Dr. Bruce came to UT in 1900, after having taught Modern Languages at Centre College in Danville, Ky. (1890-1891), and Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania (1891-1900), where he served as Associate Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English and English Philology. In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Bruce served as head of the English Department throughout his entire tenure at UT.

Dr. Bruce was known for many years throughout the scholarly world as an eminent authority on Arthurian legends and literature. He published widely in the field of Anglo-Saxon literature, including his crowning achievement The Evolution of Arthurian Romance, a monumental two-volume work which was published posthumously. His numerous other publications included both books and reviews for leading publications as well as scholarly articles appearing in both American and foreign periodicals. Dr. Bruce enjoyed membership in a number of scholarly organizations. At the time of his death, he was President of the International Chaucerian Society, a rare honor for a non-Englishman. In addition, Bruce was elected President of the American Dialect Society in 1916. He was also a member of the Keats-Shelly Society of New York and a member of Delta Kappa Delta.

Dr. Bruce was fatally stricken with a severe paralytic stroke while delivering a lecture in Ayres Hall at UT during the second week of the second semester in 1923. He died several days later on February 19, 1923, in Fort Sanders Hospital in Knoxville, and is buried in the family plot in Richmond, Va. At the time of his death, Dr. Bruce was preparing to do scholarly research on the works of Spenser.

Dr. Albert C. Baugh was born in Philadelphia, Pa. and received both his master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Baugh would go on to teach there for nearly half a century. He also served as president of the Modern Humanities Research Association of Cambridge, England (1948-1950) and president of the International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures (1960-1963). He is most known for his A History of the English Language.