WHEREAS, John Fraser Ramsey, Professor of History in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama will retire on June 30, 1977;

and WHEREAS, Professor Ramsey was born in Lawrence Kansas, on December 17, 1907. He grew up in California and was educated at the University of California at Berkeley where he received his Ph.D. in 1935. He joined the faculty of the University of Alabama in the fall of 1935 and, except for three years on the staff of the United States Air Force, including the position of Senior Historian, he served as a member of the faculty for the next forty-two years.

During these years Professor Ramsey had a profound influence on the University. To the class room he brought a wide range of professional knowledge, a grace and wit that was peculiarly his own and, at the same time, a demand for a high standard of academic performance from his students. Those who attended his lectures found to their surprise, and sometimes to their dismay, that John Ramsey’s version of history included art, music, literature and philosophy, and that he was as knowledgeable about Mozart as he was about Montesquieu.

Professor Ramsey insisted that his students, his colleagues in the History Department, and the University at large pursue the highest standards of academic excellence, and in the many capacities in which he served - as a member of almost every important committee, as a public lecturer and as chairman of the History Department, he never lost sight of this objective. Although his position as chairman of the department was as close as Professor Ramsey ever came to crossing over to the administrative side, no one commanded more attention or respect from the officials of the University, who constantly sought his advice and counsel.

His circle of friends and admirers is so wide and varied as to defy description. They are of all ages and from all walks of life, and they know him as a hon vivant, master teller of tales, and gourmet cook. He is tolerant of their intellectual and moral infirmities while at the same time maintaining his own rigorous moral and ethical code.

And WHEREAS, the attached compendium of the honors, services, and scholarly publications further attest to Professor Ramsey’s contributions;

And WHEREAS, though he would consider it invidious to be compared to the Apostle Paul, nevertheless, it may be truly said of Professor Ramsey that he has fought the good fight, he has finished the course, and he has kept the faith,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED: That the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Alabama hereby recognize and record Professor John Ramsey’s forty-two years of dedicated service as friend, scholar, and teacher, to the students, the Department of History, the University and the state of Alabama.