Dr. Michael Salda, Professor of English, Dies

Dr. Michael Salda, a professor in The University of Southern Mississippi's Department of English, died Oct. 16 in Hattiesburg. He was 57.

A native of Nebraska, Dr. Salda held bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. He joined the Southern Miss faculty in 1991 and attained the rank of full professor in 2014. An expert in Arthurian and Medieval literature, he published Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television. He was known for his use of technology in the classroom, pioneering the use of podcasts and online classes.

“Michael Salda was a dedicated teacher, a fine scholar of medieval literature as well as hilarious Arthurian cartoons, and a long-serving and steadfast chair of the English Department,” said Dr. Maureen Ryan, professor of English and interim dean of the Southern Miss College of Arts and Letters. 

“Michael was the most valued of colleagues; he was our go-to expert on Robert's Rules of Order and a patient technology guru. He was a gentleman and a scholar in the fine, old sense; a quiet, strong presence and a man of absolute integrity. The English Department will be diminished without him.”

The Salda family requests that memorials to Dr. Salda be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (www.nationalmssociety.org).