James M. May
James M. May, Professor of Classics
(has taught at St. Olaf since 1977)
E-mail: may@stolaf.edu
On sabbatical during the 2011-2012 academic year.
B.S. Ed. (Latin & English), Kent State University, 1973
Ph.D. (Classics), University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1977
Jim May is the author of many articles and chapters on Cicero, classical rhetoric, and Latin pedagogy, as well as a book entitled Trials of Character: The Eloquence of Ciceronian Ethos, an annotated translation (co-authored with Jakob Wisse) of Cicero's On the Ideal Orator, and a textbook, 38 Latin Stories (co-authored with Anne Groton). Most recently he has edited a volume of essays, Brill's Companion to Cicero: Rhetoric and Oratory. He is currently working on a Cicero reader.
May received the American Philological Association's Award for Excellence in the Teaching of the Classics in 1986 and the Sears-Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award in 1991. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Philological Association and as the APA's Vice President for Education; he is currently the APA's Vice President for Professional Matters. A former President of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, he has held two NEH Fellowships and directed two NEH Summer Seminars for School Teachers. He has recently completed nine years as Provost and Dean of St. Olaf College (2002 to 2011).
In his spare time May competes in handball, restores antique trucks and tractors, builds harpsichords, plays baroque instruments, chants (Gregorian-style), and sings in a Renaissance chamber choir. Besides having visited Greece more than 30 times, his greatest claim to fame is having been one of 170 rowers who powered the trireme Olympias, a replica of an ancient Greek warship, around the Aegean Sea in 1990. He is married to Donna, a professional singer, choir director, and high-school music teacher; they have two sons, Joseph (married to Bethany) and Michael (married to Sheila).
Not teaching during the 2011-2012 academic year.
