Throughout his distinguished 36-year teaching career at Wittenberg, Terry Otten, the Kenneth E. Wray Professor in the Humanities and professor of English, influenced hundreds inside the classroom and out. On the occasion of his retirement reception, April 23, many returned to say thank you.

One such person was Washington Post photojournalist Lois Raimondo ’81, who flew in briefly from Washington, D.C. to wish her professor and friend well. Raimondo discussed how Otten made her a better writer and how they have remained in touch for more than 20 years. Faculty also shared memories of Otten during the reception in the Ness Family Auditorium.

Otten, who joined the Wittenberg faculty in 1966, was named Ohio Professor of the Year in 1988. Widely published, he has written more than 50 articles as well as essays in six anthologies, and four books, including The Deserted Stag, After Innocence: Visions of the Fall in Modern Literature and The Crime of Innocence in the Fiction of Toni Morrison.

His newly released The Temptation of Innocence in the Dramas of Arthur Miller has been called “a meticulously researched and refreshing new reading of Arthur Miller’s plays.”

Recipient of the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching, Otten, whose expertise is in Romantic and modern literature and drama, received his A.B. from Georgetown College, his M.A. from the University of Kentucky, his Ph.D. from Ohio University and his doctorate in literature from Georgetown.