35 Facts About William Chaney

William Albert Chaney was an American historian of Anglo-Saxon England.

William Chaney's studies focused on the conversion from paganism to Christianity and sacral kingship.

William Chaney's work culminated in his 1970 book, The Cult of Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England: The Transition from Paganism to Christianity.

William Chaney was born in California and, at age 16, graduated from high school as valedictorian of his class.

William Chaney completed both his Bachelor of Arts and Ph.

William Chaney was awarded two fellowships from Berkeley, and made a fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows.

William Chaney said later that "I thought I would stay two or three years to see what a liberal arts college was like", but then "fell in love with the place", and never left.

William Chaney was a popular presence on campus; he was Lawrence's second-longest-serving professor.

For more than four decades, William Chaney hosted a "salon" three or four days a week at his apartment whereby students would gather for conversation and classical music.

William Chaney was known as an engaging speaker, and conducted scores of lectures at Lawrence and in the broader community.

William Chaney later claimed that his interest in the Middle Ages started early in life, and that he was reading Walter Scott when his peers were reading children's books.

William Chaney graduated as valedictorian of his class at Lodi Union High School in 1939, aged 16.

William Chaney was admitted into the honor society Phi Beta Kappa as a senior, and completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1943, majoring in medieval history.

William Chaney then began working on his master's degree there while working as a teacher's assistant, and in 1944 was granted a fellowship in the history department.

William Chaney's mother traveled with Chaney to Cambridge, where she spent the year.

In 1949, William Chaney, having returned to live in Berkeley again, was made a fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows.

William Chaney was recommended for the fellowship by Maurice Bowra, whom Chaney had met while traveling Europe on a Berkeley fellowship.

In 1952, William Chaney was appointed to a post at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

William Chaney started in the fall term, with his mother again coming along and living with him, and soon began greeting new students in turn.

In 1954, William Chaney started teaching the course "a history of western civilization," and organized a four-day medieval festival at the college, which included two lectures by him.

William Chaney became the representative of the Rhodes Scholarship program at Lawrence.

William Chaney was promoted to associate professor in June 1958, and spent that summer as a visiting professor at Michigan State University.

William Chaney was named the George McKendree Steele endowed chair in history in 1962, and made a full professor in May 1966.

William Chaney took another sabbatical leave of absence from 1966 to 1967, with a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies, to work at Oxford; much of his time was spent at the Bodleian Library, where he conducted research in support of a forthcoming book, provisionally entitled "Medieval Kingship".

From 1968 to 1971 William Chaney was the chair of the history department, then from 1971 to 1972 spent a year abroad at Lawrence's London Centre, which had been opened the year before.

William Chaney spent two more years there over the course of his career: from 1986 to 1987, and 1992 to 1993.

William Chaney published many other works, including the widely cited 1962 article Grendel and the Gifstol: a Legal View of Monsters.

Two years later, Chaney marked his 45th year at Lawrence, surpassing the record held by Hiram A Jones, who taught Latin at the university from 1854 until dying in his classroom in 1898; the university declared a "Chaney Day," and rang the Main Hall bell 45 times.

From 1962 to 1999 William Chaney held the George McKendree Steele endowed chair in history, and from 1968 to 1971 he was the chair of the history department.

William Chaney was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1977, and was affiliated with the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, the American Society of Church History, the Conference on British Studies, the American Association of University Professors, and Phi Beta Kappa.

Shortly before his retirement, William Chaney was named to "Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 1998".

William Chaney once described his political views as "a cross between divine right monarchist and libertarian".

William Chaney loved classical music, and would joke that he did not like anything written after 1791.

William Chaney had a cat, named Grendel, which he described as "the most pampered cat in town".

William Chaney's output measured more than 100 publications by 1985; by his death these included more than 70 articles and 25 reviews.