Richard Leighton Greene (18 January 1904 – 23 December 1983) was an American literary scholar and musicologist. Born in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

on 18 January 1904, Greene attended the

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, graduating with an AB in 1926; he then studied at

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, completing an AM in 1927 and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

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in 1929.''Directory of American Scholars'', vol. 2 (

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, 1982), p. 273. Greene joined the teaching faculty at the University of Rochester in 1929 and was promoted to a full

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ship 1937 Joyce Purnick
"Dr. Richard L. Greene Dies at 79; Expert on English Medieval Carols"
''

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'', 26 December 1983, p. 6. and to the Gilmore Professorship of English in 1942. In 1946, he moved to

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes reg ...

and served as its president until 1950. He then spent four years holding visiting professorships at

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, the

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and the

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. In 1954, he joined the faculty at

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as a visiting professor; he was appointed to a full professorship in 1956 and to the Wilbur Fisk Osborne Professorship of English in 1969. He retired in 1972. He was a specialist in medieval English

carols A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with Christian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance. A caroller (or caroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to be carolling (or caroling). T ...

; his books included ''The Early English Carols'' and ''A Selection of English Carols''. He died on 23 December 1983, aged 79.

References

1904 births 1983 deaths American literary historians University of Rochester alumni 20th-century American musicologists {{US-academic-bio-stub