Abstract
S. Michael Halloran, 1939–2025, was a scholar and beloved teacher of rhetorical studies. He was born in Cohoes, NY, and, except for three years in the U.S. Navy, he lived in this same Hudson Valley area all his life. He received his B.S. in English Literature in 1960 from the College of the Holy Cross and his Ph.D. in Communication and Rhetoric in 1973 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he rose from graduate student to Instructor to Professor and served as Director of Graduate Studies, Department Chair, and Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, retiring in 2003. As a member of the graduate faculty, he directed 31 doctoral dissertations. His publications explore a series of interests: contemporary and classical rhetorical theory, the rhetoric of science, 19th century rhetorical pedagogy and institutionalization, theories of taste and beauty, and rhetoric of nature and the environment. He was active in several professional associations, notably the Rhetoric Society of America, the Modern Language Association, and the Conference on College Composition and Communication. He was honored by RPI in 1991 with the William H. Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award for excellence in teaching and research and by the Rhetoric Society of America in 2002 with the George Yoos Distinguished Service Award, which included recognition as an RSA Fellow. His former students and colleagues remember him for his shrewd insight, maddeningly unpredictable questions, continuous good humor, inveterate storytelling, generous friendship, and love of a good martini.
Recommended Citation
Miller, Carolyn R.
(2026)
"In Memory of S. Michael Halloran: After W. H. Auden, "In Memory of W. B Yeats","
Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine: Vol. 11:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/survive_thrive/vol11/iss1/5