McKnight, William A. (William Albert), 1911-1986

William A. McKnight, professor, 1936-1978, in the Dept. of Romance Languages, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was active in promoting the study of contemporary Spanish literature.

Physician.

Physician-in-Charge, Mental Health Clinic, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College.

William A. McKnight served on the faculty of the Department of Romance Languages at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1936 to 1978 and was active in promoting the study of contemporary Spanish literature.

Born in Shelby, N.C., McKnight grew up in Denver, N.C., and was a 1932 graduate of Davidson College. He received his M.A. in 1937, and Ph.D. in 1951, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

During his tenure in Chapel Hill, McKnight played a significant part in the development of the University's holdings in Spanish literature, particularly the Spanish Drama Collection. He was also instrumental in the University's acquisition of the Wyatt Andrew Pickens Collection of Foreign Language Books.

He also served as chair of the Contemporary Spanish Literature Section of the Modern Language Association (MLA); assistant editor for Spanish of the Modern Language Journal ; and chair of the MLA's Spanish Bibliography Committee, which began publishing the Bibliography of Contemporary Spanish Literature in 1953. He was also a Peace Corps teacher and advisor.

McKnight received the Tanner Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1963. In 1978, a permanent endowment fund was established in his name at the Ravenscroft School in Raleigh to provide financial assistance to students and teachers in the school's foreign language program.

McKnight died on 11 June 1986.