Wooster mourns passing of emeritus professor of English, David Moldstad

David Moldstad, emeritus professor of English at The College of Wooster, passed away on March 31, 2022, in Wooster, Ohio, at 98 years old. Moldstad taught in the English Department from 1957 to 1991.

The main focus of Moldstad’s research was Victorian literature. A dedicated scholar of English novelist, George Eliot, and other prominent writers of the 19th century, he took multiple sabbaticals to do research in London during his tenure at The College of Wooster. He published several articles on George Eliot and Thomas Hardy throughout his career. He was a member of the Modern Language Association, the Northeast Ohio College English Group, and served on the editorial board of Victorian Poetry, a journal studying the Victorian period in Britain from 1830-1914.

Moldstad was an enthusiastic and beloved teacher. Many of his students described him as modest and thoughtful and have credited him with inspiring them to become English majors. One of his Independent Study students was Flo K. Gault ’48 (wife of Stanley C. Gault ‘48, chairman emeritus of Wooster’s Board of Trustees). Gault had chosen not to do Independent Study as a senior at Wooster. Years later, after the Gaults returned to live in Wooster, she decided to explore the road not taken. She worked with Moldstad to successfully complete her I.S. thesis in 1987 on “The Wesleyan Influence on Two Nineteenth Century Authors,” and the Flo K. Gault Library, dedicated in 1995, serves as a focus of Wooster’s commitment to its Independent Study program. In January 2020, Moldstad returned to campus for an author presentation by Sophie Perinot ’86, whose Independent Study he advised. Perinot kept in touch with Moldstad after she began her career as an attorney and later author. At the time of her presentation, she shared that though she found her passion in history at Wooster, he considered her “an honorary English major.”

Before his successful career as a scholar and professor of English literature, Moldstad was a 2nd lieutenant and navigator for the U.S. Air Force during World War II, flying missions into Italy. A strong proponent of liberal arts education, he earned his bachelor’s degree after the war from Hiram College. He completed his master’s degree in English literature at Brown University and his doctorate in English at the University of Wisconsin. He began his teaching career at University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and joined the faculty at Wooster in 1957, where he taught for the remainder of his career.

He is survived by his wife, Mary “Marty” Moldstad, son, Frank Moldstad, and three daughters, Peggy Spool (Alan), Carol Potok (Mark), and Pam Moore, as well as four grandchildren: Jeremy Spool, Daniel Spool, Nicolas Potok, and Adrian Moore. Memorial services will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wooster, Ohio, at a later date.

Published April 6, 2022

Posted in News on April 6, 2022.