Paul M. Sorrentino, professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, has been named the Clifford A. Cutchins Professor of English by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The Clifford A. Cutchins Professorship in English was established in 1989 through a gift from the Sovran Financial Corporation to recognize excellence in teaching and scholarship. Those honored with the professorship hold the position for a five-year period.

A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1978, Sorrentino was promoted to full professor in 1984. He held the Guggenheim Fellowship from 2008 to 2009 and a National Endowment for the Humanities year-long grant from 1996 to 1997. He is currently completing a biography of the American author Stephen Crane to be published by Harvard University Press. He has published five other books and a textbook, two dozen articles and book chapters, and multiple notes and reviews. He is the founder and editor of Stephen Crane Studies.

A highly regarded teacher, Sorrentino received the State Council for Higher Education for Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award and the university’s William E. Wine Award in 2006. He received the university’s Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1984 and three certificates of teaching excellence from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in his career.

In addition, he has served his college as associate chair of the Department of English and has been a member of the College Personnel Committee and the Alumni Award Selection Committee.

Sorrentino received his bachelor’s degree from Villanova University, a master’s degree from Lehigh University, and a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University.

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