Donald Yannella
At a young age Donald Yannella was swallowed up by a love for the written word. His partiality naturally led to a career inspiring other devotees to reading and writing. “I love watching people learn to appreciate what a good piece of writing is,” he says. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Fordham University, and spent 27 years as professor of English at Glassboro. Probably best known on campus and in the literary community for his passion for Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, he retired from the faculty in 1991.

Yannella credits Glassboro’s teacher’s college students with inspiring him to be a better professor. “The students had great capacity, great capability,” he recalls. From his classes, students learned how best to teach literature—and so did Yannella.

Respected by colleagues and honored by professional societies, Yanella’s biography appears annually in Who’s Who in America and was again updated in 2001 in Contemporary Authors. The Melville expert was named Distinguished Professor of American Literature in 1995 and has served as advisor to film projects about the 19th century author. Since 1971, he has been active in the Melville Society, editing Melville Society Extracts for 16 years and serving as president in 1990. His book, New Essays on Billy Budd, was published last fall by Cambridge University Press.

Retirement hasn’t distracted Yanella from reading, researching and writing. The author and editor of eight books on 19th century writers including Emerson, Yannella is exploring new subjects. He says with some satisfaction, “I’ve moved on to the 20th century!” The Manahawkin resident traveled to Europe in October to finish research for another book, as well as articles on Ezra Pound and Louis Zukofsky. “I guess the only thing that’s different now is that I’m not teaching. I still hang out in libraries,” Yannella laughs. “And I still love literature. That’s never changed.”

Yannella has also been arranging a 100th birthday celebration at the New York Public Library in February in honor of the late American novelist James T. Farrell. Farrell served as Glassboro’s writer-in-residence in 1973, and in 1976, the College presented him with an honorary doctorate. Yannella has invited literary greats including Arthur Schlessinger and Norman Mailer to speak in honor of Farrell.

The proud father of five grown children, Yannella likes to spend his spare time on the water. “I’m a sailboat guy,” he says. “Maybe that’s a little bit of the Herman Melville in me —and Moby-Dick.”

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Alumni can honor retired faculty by donating to a scholarship fund and other investment. Call Anne Hagan at 856-256-5402 or visit the Rowan University Foundation.