In Memoriam: Virginia James Tufte, 1918-2020

Virginia Tufte, Distinguished Emerita Professor of English at the University of Southern California, died this past spring at her home in Beverly Hills, California. She was 101 years old.

Professor Tufte grew up on a farm Meadow Grove, Nebraska. She started reading at 3 years old and skipped several grades at school to attend what is now Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, in her mid-teens. In her late teens and early 20s, she worked as a reporter for four years on The Omaha World-Herald.

After several years as a mother and homemaker, Tufte returned to higher education, earning a master’s degree in journalism from Arizona State University and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Tufte joined the faculty at the University of Southern California in 1964. There, she was a founder of the program for the Study of Women and Men in Society, a predecessor of gender and sexuality studies.

Professor Tufte retired from teaching in 1989 but remained active. While in her 80s, she authored the critically acclaimed book Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style (Graphics Press, 2006).