Robert Raymo Papers

Robert Raymo (1925-2009), a scholar of medieval English literature, served the majority of his academic career at New York University. He arrived at the University in 1964 as a professor of English and was named professor emeritus in 2002. Raymo chaired NYU's English Department (1969-1972) and Dramatic Literature Department (1969-1974) and served as the founding director of NYU's Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program. He also served as dean of NYU's Graduate School of Arts and Science from 1974 to 1979.

Born in Pelham Manor on January 23, 1925, Raymo earned a B.A. at Fordham University in 1945. He received a scholarship from the American Academy of Classical Studies in Rome and a grant in aid from Columbia University to continue his studies at the graduate level. He received an M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1947 and used his two consecutive Fulbright Awards (1949-1957) for research to earn a doctorate at Cambridge University in 1953 in medieval and modern languages. He began his academic career in 1953 when he was appointed an instructor of English at the University of California at Los Angeles. Two years later, UCLA appointed him assistant professor of English, a position he held until 1957, when he joined the faculty at Rutgers University. By 1960 Raymo attained a full professorship at Rutgers, leaving 4 years later (1964) to join the NYU English faculty at the Graduate School of Arts and Science. In 1964 he also received the Lindback Foundation Award for Excellence and Distinguished Teaching and the Rutgers University Alumni Distinguished Teacher Award.

Raymo's administrative career with NYU encompasses his responsibilities as Head of the All-University Department of English, a post that discontinued in 1972 as a result of sale of the University Heights Campus in the Bronx. In 1969 he was named Chairman of the Department of English at Washington Square College, a position he retained with the merger of NYU's entire undergraduate and graduate faculty at the Washington Square Campus in 1973. He also served as a member of NYU's University Senate from 1969-1972, representing the interests of Washington Square College. From 1971 to 1973, he sat on the Budget Committee and advised the Chancellor on University budgetary policy. For several months he also served as member of the Committee on the Financial Emergency where he reviewed and commented on the 1972 Report of the Task Force, offering independent suggestions to improve the University's financial situation.

As a linguist and manuscript editor, Raymo focused his academic pursuits on medieval English literature of the 14th and 15th centuries and on works of Chaucer. As a book collector, he held memberships at both the Grolier Club, where he curated an exhibit of his collection commemorating the 600th anniversary of Chaucer's death, and the Lotos Club. During the last years of his life, he worked on compiling a comprehensive bibliography of Chaucer editions from 1447 to the present, based largely on his private collection. Raymo died on July 16, 2009 of cancer at New York City's Calvary Hospital.