Arnold R. Highfield

Arnold Ray Highfield (March 10, 1940 – September 8, 2019) was an American professor, historian, writer, and poet, best known for his historical works on the Danish West Indies and the United States Virgin Islands.

Arnold Highfield, the eldest of two children, was born in New Boston, Ohio, to Arnold Ray Highfield, a steelworker, and his wife Hazel Nichols Highfield.

His father died in an auto accident in November 1941; Arnold and his brother were raised by their mother and paternal grandparents, Clarence Riley Highfield and Roxie Frye Highfield.

In 1963, Highfield married Shirley de Chabert of St. Croix, USVI, whom he met while a student at The Ohio State University.

In the early years of their marriage, they completed studies towards their graduate degrees in different parts of Europe.

They eventually settled in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

They have four children, Kevin D Highfield, Leslie Highfield Carter, Kimberly R Highfield and Christopher R Highfield; and four grandchildren.

The couple presently divide their time between homes in La Grande Princesse, St. Croix, and Middlebury, Vermont.

Highfield earned a BA in Social Sciences and History from Ohio State University in 1964 and an MA in [Medieval History] in 1966.

Highfield began his teaching career as an assistant instructor and departmental tutor, History Department, Ohio State University, in 1964–66.

In 1966–67, he attended the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, where he studied French.

He was an instructor of history at Lycée Jaccard, in Pully, Switzerland in 1966–67.

In 1968, he studied Spanish at the University of Madrid in Spain.

In 1968, he moved to St. Croix, USVI, and was an instructor of history at the then College of the Virgin Islands from 1969 to 1972.

In 1973–74, he became a teaching associate and the following year, 1974–75, he was a research associate at Ohio State University in the Department of Romance Languages.

Highfield is a past member of Phi Alpha Theta, National History Honorary Society; recipient of the Faculty of the Year Award for the St. Croix Campus, College of the Virgin Islands, for the academic years 1975–76, 1976–77, and 1977–78, as selected by the student body; Scholar-in-Residence, University of the Virgin Islands, 1995–2007; honoree as a "Virgin Islands Hero" by AT&T in 1997; recipient of the Governor's Virgin Islands Medal for Excellence in Literature in August 1997; recipient of the University of the Virgin Islands Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, May 1998.

In 1976, he earned a doctorate in Romance Linguistics, also from The Ohio State University.

From 1976 until 2007 he taught as a Professor of Social Sciences and Linguistics at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix Campus.

During his tenure there, he taught courses in Virgin Islands History, Caribbean History, World History, Anthropology, Linguistics and Philosophy.

In the early 1980s, Highfield hosted a weekly television program called Focus on TV-Channel 8 in St. Croix that dealt with visiting personalities, cultural events, and politics.

During that same period, he also wrote a weekly column for the St. Croix Avis for a period of two years, covering cultural events and topics dealing with history and society.

Highfield has taught at several other universities, including a stint as Exchange Professor in the History Department of Ohio Wesleyan University in 1982 and a turn as visiting professor for the winter terms of both 1998 and 1999 at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.

He has also lectured at a number of colleges and universities, including: The University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico); the University of Copenhagen (in absentia); Middlebury College; California State University; Lavity Stoutt College (Tortola, British Virgin Islands); Colegio Universitario del Turabo (Puerto Rico); West Indies Laboratory, Fairleigh Dickinson University; the Haitian-American Institute (Port-au-Prince, Haiti), The University of Galway, and others.

There he held the title of Scholar-in-Residence from 1995 until his retirement in 2007, at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix Campus.

From 2008 until 2013, he wrote a monthly article for The Crucian Trader, published by the V.I. Daily News.

Highfield died on September 8, 2019.