Professor Emeritus Stanley Sultan

SULTAN, Stanley Emeritus Professor of English at Clark University and distinguished literary scholar and writer, died February 4 at his home in Roslindale. He was 84. Professor Sultan grew up in Brooklyn, the oldest son in a Sephardic Jewish family. He attended Cornell and earned graduate degrees at Boston University (M.A.) and Yale (Ph.D.). Having taught briefly at Smith College, Professor Sultan joined the Clark faculty in 1959, where he served as a dedicated and wittily outspoken professor of English literature until he retired in 2005, and had a significant impact on the Clark community in general. Known as Stan to all, Professor Sultan served Clark on critical committees, but also never tired to partake in Clark life as a true, impassioned citizen. He and his wife contributed, for example, to funds awarding excellent students, but wanted his part to remain anonymous. In addition to his tireless devotion to Clark, Professor Sultan published numerous books, articles, and chapters of literary criticism of note, including a path-breaking interpretation of Joyce's novel in "The Argument of Ulysses" and comparative studies of modernist fiction, drama and poetry. His reputation led Professor Sultan to present papers and keynote addresses at universities and conferences both nationally and internationally. Exceptional in many ways, Professor Sultan proved so in the literary world as well. In addition to being a significant scholar, he was also an award winning writer of fiction, with short stories and excerpts from his novel Rabbi: A Tale of the Waning Year appearing in notable collections and public readings. Professor Sultan was deeply committed to social justice; he was a long-standing member of several human rights organizations, including the Democratic Socialists of America, who recently honored his service with the Eugene Debs-Norman Thomas-Julius Bernstein award. A lifelong sailor and lover of travel, good food, and Jewish humor, he leaves his devoted wife of nearly 50 years, Betty H. Sultan, his loving children, James L. and Sonia E. Sultan, grandchildren Gabriel Sultan, Jasmine Baker, Kaia Hinton, and Jesse Sultan, and siblings Allen Sultan, Shirley Raynor, and Carol Leinwand. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Professor Sultan's memory be made to Clark University, c/o University Advancement Office, 950 Main St., Worcester, MA 01610. William J. Gormley Funeral Service West Roxbury 617-323-8600.

Courtesy of the Boston Globe