Todd Hanlin
Fayetteville, Arkansas – Professor Emeritus Todd Hanlin passed away on December 22, 2022 in Fayetteville. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2022 and entered hospice care shortly before his death.
Hanlin will be remembered as a beloved teacher, prolific translator, and dedicated and hardworking colleague at the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas.
Hanlin received his BA from Wabash College in 1962 and his MA from the University of Kansas in 1967. These studies included Goethe in Ebersberg/Upper Bavaria during his time at the Institute and the University of Freiburg, and his 1982 and his 1995 summer Fulbright Prizes.
After teaching at the Universities of Kansas, Worcester, Bryn Mawr, and the University of Pennsylvania, he moved to the University of Arkansas in 1981, where he spent the rest of his career. During his time in Arkansas, he taught a variety of German literature from the Middle Ages to his twentieth century. This includes interdisciplinary courses in Landeskunde, European Studies, Romanticism and Music. Hanlin has been active at all levels of service and has served on the Faculty Council, the University of Arkansas Press Committee, the Comparative Literature Committee, and the German Language Program where he headed. His most important services to the department were as undergraduate and graduate advisors, teaching he assistant he coordinator, and advisor to the active chapters of delta he phi he alpha.
An early proponent of Austrian literature, Hanlin compiled two volumes (Shieldsfield and Beyond Vienna: Literature from the Austrian Privileges) and published works by Jugendstil, Hoffmannsthal, Schnitzler, Werfel, Published by Sischkowitz, Hochwalder, Hochgatter and others. However, his main contribution was as a translator of Austrian plays and novels (Anton Fuchs, Gustav He Ernst), most recently the novelist Gerhard He Roth (Ariad Nepress). Hanlin remained passionate about his translations until his retirement in 2007. Hanlin was working on Ross’ novel when he died. Der Strom.
Hanlin influenced generations of students. He was respected by graduate and undergraduate students alike for both his wit and his humanity.
As a member of the AATG, GSA, Modern Austrian Literary and Cultural Association, MLA, and American Association of Literary Translators, he has provided a rich and multifaceted career for his students and colleagues.
Judith Ricker and Mark E. Cory, Fulbright College, University of Arkansas Fayetteville
