In Memoriam: Richard Corbin, Professor of English

Posted January 25, 2018

Dr. Richard “Dick” Johnstone Corbin, a longtime professor of English at Georgia Tech died on December 16, 2017, at the age of 85. 

Born in Savannah, Dr. Corbin received his B.A. in English from Sewanee, the University of the South in 1955 and subsequently an M.A. in 1960 and a Ph.D. in 1973, both from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Dr. Corbin taught at Northern Colorado University and at Sewanne, prior to joining the Georgia Tech English Department (now the School of Literature, Media, and Communication) in 1969.

Dr. Robert Wood, an LMC colleague of Dr. Corbin’s shared this remembrance of him:

His enthusiasm for the spectrum of the arts made him an early influence on the broadening of the curriculum and an inspiring colleague. Together with Dr. Wister Cook he introduced a popular course in Arts and Ideas. Dick taught at Tech from 1969 to his retirement in 1997 and might in recent years be encountered around town at such events as the symphony.

Those who taught with Dick remember him as a robust man with a booming voice and a hearty laugh, a college athlete, an Air Force veteran, proud of his boys Kingsley and John. An outdoorsman, he was able to fulfill another dream in retiring to Jackson, Georgia, where he cultivated blueberry bushes and planted trees. He continued to teach, leading an adult reading group and consulting with the local library.

Dr. Corbin is survived by two sons, Kingsley G. Corbin and John R. Corbin and by his wife, Penelope, of Jackson, Georgia.

The funeral service for Dr. Corbin was held in Savannah on January 6, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. at Bonaventure Cemetery.

The obituary for Dr. Corbin may be found on the Legacy website.