David M. Whalen

Biography

Dr. David Whalen has taught in Hillsdale’s English Department since 1994. In addition to his teaching duties, Whalen previously held administrative positions as Dean of Faculty and Associate Provost until his appointment in 2010 as Provost. In 2019, he stepped down as Provost to return to teaching while still remaining involved in the College’s administration in an advisory capacity. Whalen obtained his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas. Prior to joining the Hillsdale faculty, he taught at the University of Kansas and Belmont Abbey College. Whalen has received a Salvatori Fellowship from the Heritage Foundation and a Weaver Fellowship from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He was also awarded the Daugherty Award for Teaching Excellence from Hillsdale College.

Whalen is the author of The Consolation of Rhetoric, a study of John Henry Newman’s epistemological thought. He has also published articles and essays on Renaissance poetry, non-fiction prose, and the history and philosophy of liberal arts education. Whalen’s reviews have appeared in The Intercollegiate Review, The University Bookman, Modern Age, and the Sewanee Review. A frequent lecturer, Whalen addresses topics such as liberal arts education; the Western imagination; and the writings of Shakespeare, John Henry Newman, T.S. Eliot, and Walker Percy.