Busby named to Supple professorship at Texas State

Posted by Mark Hendricks
University News Service
June 12, 2008

Mark Busby has been named the Jerome H. and Catherine E. Supple Professor of Southwestern Studies at Texas State University-San Marcos.

Busby, a native of Ennis, Texas, is director of Texas State’s Center for the Study of the Southwest and the Southwest Regional Humanities Center and a professor of English at Texas State.

He is the author or editor of books on Larry McMurtry, Ralph Ellison, John Graves, Preston Jones, Lanford Wilson, the frontier in American literature, Texas short stories, an encyclopedia of the Southwest, and the novel Fort Benning Blues.

Before coming to Texas State, Busby taught at Texas A&M University-College Station, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, the U.S. Army Adjutant General School and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The Supple Professorship is named in honor of Texas State’s ninth president, Jerome Supple, and his wife, Cathy. It was made possible through a gift from the Alkek Foundation, and other gifts from colleagues and friends of the Supples and Texas State. Jerry Supple worked tirelessly in support of the Southwest Regional Humanities Center.

The director of the regional center is designated as the Supple Professor. The Center supports a variety of activities, including programs for students and teachers, lectures and readings by scholars and writers, publication of regional materials, the Gateway to the Southwest interactive educational website, and other significant projects for the region.