Linda Paulson in France

Dr. Linda Paulson discovered Europe as a teenager, traveling with family and visiting friends, and has tried to spend a part of every year there ever since. She majored in English, French and art history as an undergraduate and taught at an international orphanage in Switzerland after graduation. She returned to the United States and earned her PhD in comparative literature at UCLA, specializing in 19th-century British, French, and German literature, particularly the novel. Since coming to Stanford in 1985, she has shared her love of theater with thousands of undergraduates, some of whom she takes to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival several times a year. “Comparative literature,” says Dr. Paulson, “tempts me to range across disciplines and to study history, art, theater, and music, along with literature—a constant challenge and delight.”

• Associate dean and director, Master of Liberal Arts program, Stanford University

• Lecturer, Stanford English department

• Resident fellow, Donner House, since 1986 to present

• Recipient, Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Award for distinguished teaching and service to the University