July 10-11, 2003

ITEM 120-1007-R0703  Authorization to Confer the Title of Professor Emeritus of Foreign Languages and Literatures upon Oliver W. Rolfe; The University of Montana-Missoula

THAT:   Oliver W. Rolfe, Professor of French, in his 33 years of service to The University of Montana, has merited the appreciation and commendation of the Board of Regents of the Montana University System, and has earned recognition as Professor Emeritus of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

EXPLANATION:   Professor Rolfe received his B.A. in French and Spanish from Washburn University in Kansas and his A.M. and Ph.D. in French Linguistics from Stanford University. He studied and did research at the University of Toulouse in France as a Fulbright Scholar and also studied at the University of Bucharest in Romania.

Professor Rolfe's teaching and research career began at Stanford University and San Jose' State College.

He was an Assistant Professor for four years at the University of Washington before beginning his full time teaching career at The University of Montana in 1960.

At The University of Montana, Professor Rolfe has been responsible for the programs in French Linguistics and Teaching Methodology, as well as general language instruction and supervision of University teaching assistants and public school student teachers. He has guided the majority of the French teachers in the state of Montana. He has been active in curriculum definition and assessment. In French Linguistics, Professor Rolfe has developed and taught courses in historical and cultural topics, most recently focusing on the modern French language in France, French-Canada and French West Africa. He has directed M.A. theses in such topics as contrastive phonological analysis and anglicism in French.

Professor Rolfe has directed four semester-long University of Montana study-abroad programs in France. Nationally, Professor Rolfe has been a member of the Screening Committee for Fulbright-Hays, a grader for Advanced Placement Examinations and a participant in the

development of the College Board examinations. He has been a Member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Northwest Council on Foreign Languages and President of the Montana Association of Language Teachers. He has been active in the development of the Montana Standards for Instruction in Foreign Languages. On campus he has worked on numerous committees, been Section Head of French, and the long-standing campus Fulbright Advisor. As the only faculty member in French Linguistics and Methodology, he has been responsible for all student advising and curriculum development in those fields.

Professor Rolfe's research and publications have focused on linguistic aspects of modern French and new approaches to methods of teaching foreign languages. He has, for example, published articles on Word-Final Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence, and on Morphological Frequency. His most recent research presentation was given in the French language at an international conference in Tunisia.

Professor Rolfe has earned the appreciation and respect of his colleagues, students and friends for his many contributions to the intellectual community of The University of Montana.