Lee Professor Dr. Donna Summerlin announces Dr. Ellen French as the university’s Department of Language & Literature Alumnus of the Year award winner
Lee University’s Language and Literature Department honored Dr. Ellen French as its 2016 Distinguished Alumnus at a department breakfast during Homecoming festivities.
Dr. French graduated from Bible Training School, the predecessor of Lee University, and later earned degrees from Southern California College and Butler University. Just before her 60th birthday, she received her Doctor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University.
Dr. French and her husband, C.E. French, were called to missions from the start of their relationship. They left on their wedding day to build a church in New Mexico. Their mission work took them to 42 states and several countries, including India, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. They also served churches in New Mexico, Missouri, West Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, and California, spanning 50 years of pastoral ministry.
She served as the executive secretary of the Church of God women’s ministries program. Dr. French was instrumental in working for the ordination of women and was one of the first women to be ordained in the Church of God.
Dr. French taught English at Lee from 1976-1990, receiving the Excellence in Teaching Award in 1988. From 1988 through her retirement in 1990 she served as department chair. During this time, she established Lee’s Writing Center, which is now a vital element of the department and campus academic life.
“Dr. Ellen French exemplifies the heart and spirit of our department in all the ways that she spent her life serving others,” said Dr. Jean Eledge, chair of the Department of Language and Literature.
Dr. Ellen French