Salerno, Nicholas A.

Professor emeritus of English and film history at Arizona State University; film critic and Victorian scholar.

Nicholas A. Salerno, university professor and administrator, author, and film critic, was born June 21, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois. Early in his life his family moved to Arizona where he attended Phoenix Union High School graduating in 1953. During his high school years he was strongly influenced by his English teachers. In 1957 he graduated from Arizona State College, later named Arizona State University (ASU), with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Journalism and History. He also received a Master of Arts degree from Arizona State University in 1959. In 1962 he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Victorian Literature with a minor in Latin language and literature from Stanford University. Salerno's field of specialization was Victorian literature and his dissertation topic was Romantic Love in Victorian Poetry .

Salerno started his academic teaching career at ASU in 1958 as an instructor and became a full professor in 1970. In 1983 he was appointed chairman of the Department of English. At ASU Salerno taught classes in 19th century literature; composition; Latin; undergraduate and graduate literature survey courses; and film history. Salerno received the ASU Distinguished Teacher Award in 1971 and the Distinguished Service Award in 1993. He retired from ASU in 1991.

Salerno is a recognized scholar on the 19th century artist and poet Aubrey Beardsley and has also published book reviews and articles on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the Victorian era, and Shakespeare. He published several literary anthologies which have been used in many college classes. Salerno is also a noted film scholar and critic with articles appearing in publications such as Phoenix Magazine and Scottsdale Progress . For ten years he hosted the KAET, Phoenix PBS television channel program Cinema Classics: The Goldwyn Touch .