Walter A. Ralls

Professor of History
1961-1993

During his 32 years of teaching history at the Colleges, Professor Emeritus Ralls inspired countless students. One alumnus fondly recalls, "Dr. Ralls was my model adviser, teacher and mentor. He drew the map that guided my intellectual journey both during college and after." In the classroom, Ralls was described as "informative and enlightening," "a wonderful teacher who inspired a love of history," and "a terrific storyteller with a great sense of humor." He had an uncanny ability to begin class with the seed of an idea, germinate it with seemingly unrelated circumstances, and grow it into a complete picture of a given period of history. As Charles Updegraph III '90 describes, Ralls' courses "were wondrous journeys through not just history, but also culture, music, politics." Many of his former students still recall their experiences in his class and how they continue to enrich their lives today. Given his love of bringing history to life, it is not surprising that upon his retirement in 1993, Dr. Ralls moved to Virginia to work on a slightly longer story—a book on the British in India.

DFA RECIPIENTS

2019

James L. Spates P'00, P'09

2018

Elena Ciletti

Patrick A. McGuire L.H.D.'12

2017

Jim Crenner

Benjamin Daise*

Maureen Flynn P'09, P'12, P'16*

2016

Roger Farrand '49, P'78*

Lois F. Nellis '46*

Ann B. Oaks '74, P'84, P'85, P'89

2014

Claudette Kemper Columbus

2013

Nicholas V. D'Angelo P'98*

2012

Peter R. Beckman

Leonard Lawson L.H.D. '68*

Tom Millington

John George Van Deusen P'43*

2011

Mary Gerhart

Joel Kerlan, P'89

Deborah Tall*

2010

Joseph N. Abraham, L.H.D. '81*

Donald L. Woodrow P'83, GP'15

2008

Valerie C. Saiving

William G. Hosking '47, P'74*

2007

Walter A. Ralls

2006

Valerie Kish

Frank O’Laughlin*

2004

John Loftus P'75, P'76, P'91*

Toni Flores P'94*

2003

Richard Heaton P'86*

Marvin Bram P'91, L.H.D. ’99

2002

Joseph DiGangi

Eugene F. Murphy P'74, L.H.D. '90*

2001

Ralph Bullard*

Kenneth Carle P'82, P'84, P'90

2000

Benjamin P. Atkinson, L.H.D. '86*

Otto Eugene Schoen-René*

John Lydenberg*

Lindsay A. J. Lafford P'65, P'71, L.H.D. '87*

1999

Robert A. Huff*

1998

Theodore Tellefsen Odell '20, Sc. D.'67*

Irving O. Bentsen '54

1997

Charles Delamater Vail '59, L.H.D.'04*

John Archer Silver*

Charles John Rose '76*

Francis Phillip Nash*

Joseph H. McDaniels, LL.D. '11*

1996

Abigail Mosey*

Brooks Otis, L.H.D. '77*

1995

John Muirheid*

Maynard O. Smith P'76

1993

Richard A. Ryan*

William Pitt Durfee, LL.D. '22*

Walter Hetherington Durfee '08, Sc.D. '59*

1992

Elon Howard Eaton*

Edward E. Griffith, L.H.D. '88*

1991

Milton Haight Turk, LL.D. '38*

Kathryn Dapp Cook, L.H.D. '84*

1990

Horace Webster*

John Towler*

Hamilton Lanphere Smith, D.Sc. 1900*

* deceased