CHRONOLOGY
John Wheatcroft was born in Philadelphia on July 24, 1925; the son of Reverend Allen S. and Laura Wheatcroft.
EARLY LIFE
| 1942 | Graduated from Simon Gratz High School, Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1942-1943 | Attended Temple University. |
| 1943-1945 | Enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July of 1943 (age 17). |
| WWII | 3 years in the Pacific on U.S.S. Wisconsin, Served in battle of the Philippines, South China Sea Campaign, Battles of Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Honshu. |
EARLY WORK
Machine shop Assistant, Philadelphia, Pa
Taxi driver, Philadelphia, Pa
Inspector in a battery factory, Williamsport, Pa
| 1946 | Returned to Temple University. |
| 1948 | Transferred to Bucknell University. |
| 1949 | Graduated from Bucknell University: Honors in English, Cum Laude. |
| Member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. | |
| Taught World Literature — Lecturer at Bucknell University. | |
| 1950 | Master's Degree from Rutgers University. |
| 1950-1952 | Instructor at the University of Kansas. |
| 1952 | Began teaching English at Bucknell University. Taught full time for more than 45 years. |
| 1952-1958 | Instructor at Bucknell University. |
| 1958-1962 | Assistant Professor at Bucknell University. |
| 1960 | PhD from Rutgers University. |
| Dissertation on Emily Dickinson. | |
| Scholarly work: Jonathan Edwards, American Puritan Minister. | |
| 1962-1966 | Associate Professor at Bucknell University. |
| 1966-1995 | Professor at Bucknell University. |
| 1979-1987 | Presidential Professor at Bucknell University. |
| 1989-1996 | Director of the Stadler Center for Poetry. |
| 1994 | Homer Price Rainey Professor of English. |
AWARDS AND NOTEWORTHY EVENTS
| 1962 | Bucknell yearbook dedication. |
| 1963 | Third Robin received the Playwriting Award from Kansas Community Children's Theater of Kansas City. |
| Christian Lindback Award for distinguished teaching. | |
| 1965 | Received the 1965 Lecture Award (from Class of 1965) for distinguished teaching. |
| Ofoeti received the Alcoa Playwriting Award and was widely distributed by National Educational Television. | |
| Produced for NET Playhouse (now PBS) starring Rene Auberjonois in 1966. Ofoeti won the National Educational Television Award for excellence in cultural programming. It was later made into a film in 1984, The Boy Who Loved Trolls, starring Sam Waterston. | |
| 1966 | The True Tragedy of Patsy and Homer Youmans performance at the Yale University Festival of Drama. |
| TV interview — WVia TV Channel 44. | |
| 1970 | Distinguished Visiting professor of English at University of Montana. |
| 1972 | Appointed Presidential Professor at Bucknell University. |
| Vision of Christ — Modern morality play in text and music . Wrote, conceived and produced. Performed at Davis Gymnasium, Bucknell University. Vision of Christ was a retelling of the vision of William concerning Piers Ploughman; adapted from Middle English of the 15th century poem by William Langland. Adapted and conceived as music and dance performance with music by Thomas Beversdorf. A modern idiom fused with late medieval vision, Langland's poem was one of the earliest production utilizing the view of the common man. | |
| 1975 | The Appeal, The Ohio Review, Winter 1974, cited as one of the distinctive stories of the year by Martha Foley, Best American Stories, 1975 |
| 1984 | Catherine, Her Book published. ….creating diary entries of Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights, which is cited in Patsy Stoneman's Brontë Transformations, and Christopher Heywood's version of Wuthering Heights. Catherine, Her Book was placed on The Village Voice's VLS A-List and the New York Times Book Review's Editors' Choices and Notable Books of the Year for 1984. |
| 1986 | Founded the Seminar for Younger Poets at Bucknell University. |
| Gold Medal for Teaching, one of ten university teachers in the nation (the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Learning) | |
| 1988 | Pennsylvania Professor of the Year. The Council for the Advancement Support of Higher Education |
| 1989 | Established the Stadler Center for Poetry at Bucknell University. |
| 1996 | Received the Bothe Lecture Award. |
| Retired from teaching — Became Professor Emeritus at Bucknell University. | |
| Served as a juror — The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. | |
| Burma Bowl — Harold and Gladys Cook Travel Award. | |
| After 1996 | The Writer at War — Online interview with Matthew Stevenson. |
| Frequent travels to Yorkshire, England; Europe- Italy, France. | |
| 2015 | "Bucknell Honors John Wheatcroft, October 24, 2015"- Honorary Scholarship established at Bucknell University. |
Resident Fellow
Yaddow
The MacDowell Colony
The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Articles and Essays
Criticism, College English Journal of Creative Behavior,
Today’s Education, Bucknell Review
American Transcendental Review, CEA Critic
Member
Poetry Society of America
PEN
College English Association
Phi Beta Kappa