Donald Kummings

Donald Kummings (July 28, 1940 - November 10, 2017) was an American professor, poet and scholar of literature, best remembered for his research on poet Walt Whitman.

For 36 years he served as a professor of English at University of Wisconsin–Parkside.

Donald Kummings was born in 1940 to Estelle and Herman Kummings in Lafayette, Indiana.

Kummings earned his B.A. in creative writing from Purdue University in 1962, following with M.A. in English in 1964 from the same university.

He started his teaching career as a teaching assistant at Purdue University in 1963.

He also taught at Adrian College and Indiana University before coming to Parkside in 1970.

In 1971 he earned

Ph.D. in English and American Studies from Indiana University.

Donald Kummings taught for more than 43 years.

In 1989 he published a collection of 20 poems

The Open Road Trip (Tunnel, New York: Geryon Press, Limited, 1989. 36 pp.) ISBN 0962219215, in which he explored his intimate and travel experiences.

The book was awarded the Posner Poetry Prize by the Council for Wisconsin Writers.

Some of Donald Kummings' shorter publications on American literature:

Donald Kummings earned a number of teaching awards for his contributions in the university, culminating with the Wisconsin Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1997.

Kummings published four books on Walt Whitman:

Throughout his life Kummings also wrote his own poems.

Kummings retired in 2006 as a professor of English at University of Wisconsin–Parkside.

He was a co-organizer of the Parkside's Foreign Film Series for 35 years.