Elaine Wise

Chairperson of the Division of Humanities and Assistant Professor of the Department of English, Wise has long been a member of the Athletic Association's Board of Directors, serving as Secretary, as a member of all committees, and as chair of the Committee on Academic Performance.

A lifelong resident of Louisville, Wise graduated from local Seneca High School, a member of its first graduating class. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in English from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Following a stop at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she earned a master's degree in English Literature on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, she joined the U of L faculty as an Instructor of English for three years. In 1969, she resumed her graduate studies, but returned to U of L in 1970 to join the faculty of the Freshman Symposium, an interdisciplinary program for first year students. In 1977, she was awarded tenure in the Division of Humanities.

Wise has served as Chair of the Division of Humanities since 1996. As a member of the Department of English, she teaches in both the English and Humanities programs. In 1990, she was named the University's Distinguished Teaching Professor for Undergraduate Instruction, in 1991, she earned the Carnegie Foundation's Kentucky Professor of the Year Award, and in 2005, she received the University of Louisville Trustees Award for her service to students.

An on-campus leader throughout her 36+ years at U of L, Wise is a long time member of the Faculty Senate, and serves as chair of its Library Committee, as liaison to the Executive Committee, and as a member of the Redbook and Bylaws committees. She was the faculty liaison to Student Senate and advisor to Mortar Board Senior Honor Society for many years. In the community, she is active with the Montpellier Committee of Sister Cities of Louisville, and has lectured on Chaucer at Paul Valery University in Montpellier, France. Chaucer and Medieval/Renaissance Literature and Culture are her areas of academic specialization.

She is also the Graduate Advisor for the Humanities masters program and continues to consult with local and state educators on the coordination and promotion of Arts and Humanities education in the region and Commonwealth.

Elaine and her husband, Barry, have one daughter, Amanda, who graduated from Wellesley College and the U of L Brandeis School of Law and resides in Chicago; one "adopted" son, Peter Preisler, who graduated from the University of Kentucky School of Architecture and resides in Pasadena, and two grandchildren, Matthew Wise Agami and Audrey Elaine Agami.