Bill Beauchamp

Bill Beauchamp received his PhD from Columbia University and taught there for several years before joining the faculty of Southern Methodist University in 1974, where he designed and taught courses on French language and literature, gender studies, and religious and philosophical thought. He pioneered the study of gay literature at SMU, teaching the first course in the 1980s. He served as French Area Chair for many years and as chair of SMU's Department of World Languages and Literatures from 1995 to 2000. In 1993, he received SMU's Perrine Prize for outstanding teaching and scholarship, and in 2006 he was named an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at SMU. He retired from SMU in 2013 and passed away in 2018.