Dr. Robert A. MacDonald

Dr. Robert A. MacDonald, who was a Spanish professor for 40 years at the University of Richmond, died June 27 in his home on Lakewood Drive. Dr. MacDonald was chair of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages in Richmond College, 1964-69, and was the university's first coordinator of graduate studies in French and Spanish, 1967-69. He was appointed assistant professor of Spanish in 1955. In 1961, he was promoted to associate professor and received tenure. He was promoted to professor in 1967 and taught until his retirement in 1995, when he was named emeritus professor. Dr. MacDonald initiated courses on Spanish literature and history, the arts of Spain, Romance linguistics and literary masterpieces in translation. He also taught elementary French and Portuguese. An active scholar, he established an international reputation for his basic research, including four books, on legal documents produced in Spain during its Golden Age. He held life memberships in the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (past president of the state chapter), Foreign Language Association of Virginia (twice past president and editor for several years), Friends of the University of Richmond Boatwright Library, the Medieval Academy of America, and the Modern Language Association of America. Other memberships included the Academy of American Research Historians on Medieval Spain, the American Association of University Professors (past president of the local chapter), the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and a number of other societies. He was also a member of several honorary societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Delta Pi and Phi Sigma Iota. He was a cultural laureate of Virginia in linguistics (1977) and the first recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Foreign Language Association of Virginia (1981). He also was awarded numerous grants and fellowships. Born March 25, 1927, to Guy E. MacDonald and Hildur V. Helene MacDonald in Salamanca, N.Y., he attended public schools in Salamanca. He graduated from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1944. He received a B.A. degree in 1948 with magna cum laude honors with a major in Romance languages from the University of Buffalo and an M.A. degree in 1949 and a Ph.D. degree with a major in Spanish in 1955, both from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He served as an official project reviewer for the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1977-95, and for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 1981-95. He also edited the Bulletin of the Foreign Language Association of Virginia, 1962-67, and 1972-86, and served on several editorial boards of publications here and abroad. Dr. MacDonald served in the United States Army Signal Corps in 1946-47, and in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence stationed at Seventh Army Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1951-53. Dr. MacDonald is survived by a sister, Joyce Spear, and a brother-in-law, Denis Spear, of Rogue River, Oregon; a niece, Laurel Spear Coughlin, of East Visalia, Calif.; and three stepbrothers, David O'Brien, of Oakhurst, Calif., William O'Brien, of Allegheny, N.Y, and Thomas O'Brien, of Vero Beach, Fla. He also leaves behind his pet cat, Tigger Thomas (Tiggie). A memorial service on campus is being planned for early September.