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A scholar and teacher of English literature specializing in the English romantic poets, Arthur Clark Hicks was born on December 21, 1901, in Canyon City, Oregon. He was educated at the University of Oregon (BA, 1922; MA, 1927) and at Stanford University (PhD (English), 1932). His doctoral dissertation was entitled The Place of Christianity in Shelley's Thought. Hicks’ academic career included appointments at the University of Oregon and San Jose State Teacher's College in California. In 1933, Dr. Hicks joined the faculty of the department of English of the Washington State Normal School at Bellingham (later Western Washington University), serving as department chair from 1933 to 1962. On his retirement in 1969, he was honored by his colleagues with the designation Professor Emeritus of English. Dr. Hicks’ scholarly interests included the Victorian novel, the English romantic period, and Shakespeare and the Renaissance.

Dr. Hicks was also a proficient pianist, receiving a piano teacher's certificate from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1924 and studying at the Julliard School of Music from 1927 to 1930. A strong supporter of the Bellingham Theatre Guild, he helped orchestrate the second United States production of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s only drama, The Cenci. Hicks also authored extensive histories of Western on the occasion of its 50th and 75th anniversaries (1949 and 1974, respectively). Beloved for his insightful, rigorous teaching and passionate devotion to reading and music, as well as for his dedication to the cause of world peace, Arthur C. Hicks died greatly mourned in 1994.