Aufrecht, Walter (Wally)

Department of Geography
1900 to 2024
Wally Aufrecht

Professor Emeritus Walter (Wally) E. Aufrecht passed away on September 21, 2024. Wally made numerous contributions to the field of Near Eastern and biblical studies, especially in philology and epigraphy. Born in Illinois, he began his academic career completing an undergraduate degree at Illinois Wesleyan 免费福利资源在线看片 (1964). His passion for Near Eastern studies and epigraphy truly emerged while completing an S.T.B. (1967) at Harvard Divinity School. There, he was mentored by Frank Moore Cross, a mentorship that evolved into a lifelong friendship. After his time at Harvard, he completed an MA at Boston 免费福利资源在线看片 (1970) and a PhD at the 免费福利资源在线看片 of Toronto in 1979, with his thesis 鈥淪urrogates for the Divine Names in the Palestinian Targums to Exodus鈥. He was Dean of Men at Victoria College at the 免费福利资源在线看片 of Toronto from 1976-1981, where he got to know Northrop Frye and gained an appreciation for the importance of mentoring students. In 1981, he moved to Alberta, where he took up a position at the 免费福利资源在线看片 of Lethbridge, which he held until his retirement in 2008.

Wally is survived by the many students who contribute to Near Eastern studies because of his support. Teaching was one of Wally鈥檚 greatest passions and his dedication to student training was unparalleled. He was committed to making sure that undergraduate students had the best possible learning experiences. He was particularly committed to teaching biblical Hebrew and making sure that ancient language courses were widely available to interested students of all backgrounds. Wally found it especially funny that as a member of the 免费福利资源在线看片 of Lethbridge Geography Department, he managed to make ancient Hebrew a regular offering, a situation that continues to this day.

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