David Raybin

Professor Emeritus of English,

Eastern Illinois University,

Charleston, IL

David Raybin is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at Eastern Illinois University. Prof. Raybin holds a Ph.D. in comparative medieval literature from Columbia University. The main focus of his teaching and scholarship is the writings of Chaucer, with occasional forays into medieval French literature. As a scholar, Prof. Raybin is editor of The Chaucer Review. He has also produced four collections of essays on Chaucer, working in collaboration with his wife Susanna Fein. Their books include Chaucer: Visual Approaches, Chaucer: Contemporary Approaches, Rebels and Rivals: The Contestive Spirit in The Canterbury Tales, and the three-volume edition The Complete Harley 2253 Manuscript. Prof. Raybin has authored dozens of articles and chapters on Chaucer and other medieval subjects, most recently a study of the Becket miracle windows at Canterbury Cathedral. In addition, he has directed many seminars on the Canterbury Tales for the National Endowment of the Humanities. A highlight of these seminars has been a trip along the pilgrimage route from London to Canterbury.

An enthusiastic teacher-scholar, Prof. Raybin was named both Professor Laureate and Distinguished Professor at Eastern Illinois. In 2011 he was honored as Illinois Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation. In his free time, he travels extensively in Europe and North America. This Active Scholar Sojourn combines two of his greatest pleasures: enjoying Chaucer’s poetry and walking through the English countryside.