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James Ballowe
Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus James Ballowe began teaching at Bradley in 1963 after completing his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. Professor Ballowe chaired the Department of English from 1971-1974 and served as Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost from 1974-1986 and Dean of the College of Communications and Fine Arts from 1986-1990. In 1998, Professor Ballowe's family and his former students established the Ballowe Personal Essay contest, which is administered by the English Department.
Upon retirement from Bradley, Professor Ballowe wrote A Great Outdoor Museum (2003), a history of The Morton Arboretum, and a biography of Joy Morton, A Man of Salt and Trees: The Life of Joy Morton, published by Northern Illinois University in April, 2009. He also teaches in the Arboretum's Naturalist Certificate Program.
As a writer/scholar, Professor Ballowe specializes in American studies, nature writing, and creative non-fiction. He has edited and introduced George Santayana's America: Essays in Literature and Culture (1967). The Coal Miners, a book of poetry, was published in 1979. Since 1963 he has published over a hundred essays, poems, and reviews. He is currently editing an anthology of Christmas traditions in Illinois and preparing a collection of his essays on Illinois culture, one of which, “The Herrin Massacre,” he narrated on National Public Radio's “Weekend, All Things Considered.”
Professor Ballowe, the 1996 recipient of the University's Putnam Award for Teaching Excellence, has twice won the Illinois Arts Council's annual award for poetry and received the Council's 1993 award for creative non-fiction. His honors include the Delta Award from the Friends of Morris Library at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, for contributions to Southern Illinois culture.
Professor Ballowe has served on the boards of the Illinois State Museum, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Illinois Humanities Council and has chaired the North Central Association's Commission on Institutions of Higher Education and the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools.