Dr. Dennis M. Kratz
- Director of the Center for Asian Studies
- Senior Associate Provost
- Ignacy and Celina Rockover Professorship
Dr. Andrew R. Cecil’s contribution in July 1996 created the professorship in memory of his parents, Ignacy and Celina Rockover. Kratz filled the position in July 2009.
“UT Dallas has provided an environment that encourages boldness and adventure in teaching, research and the development of new programs. What better place for someone who studies epic poetry and heroism?”
Dr. Dennis M. Kratz is a medievalist, a translator of classical and medieval literature, and a scholar of fantasy and science fiction. All of his interests converge in the classroom. In 1992, he received the UT System Chancellor’s Council Award for Outstanding Teaching.
After receiving his doctorate in medieval Latin from Harvard University, Kratz taught at Simmons College and Ohio State University. As the dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at UT Dallas, Kratz is credited with transforming the liberal arts program by developing an interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes the fusion of critical with creative thinking, and the arts and humanities with science and engineering.
“UT Dallas is poised to provide a model of excellence for higher education attuned to the needs and opportunities of the 21st century,” said Kratz.
In 2004, the school initiated an academic program in Arts and Technology (ATEC) that received the prestigious Innovation in Education award in 2007 from The University of Texas System. In 2008, the school introduced Emerging Media and Communication (EMAC), a second academic program dedicated to the convergence of the arts and humanities with advanced technology.
Kratz also forged a humanities program that responds to the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century by establishing the Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology.
Kratz, a recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, is the author of numerous translated works and four books on such topics as epic poetry, the concept of heroic excellence, and the romantic tradition of Alexander the Great.
He is a former president of the American Literary Translators Association and since 1979 has been the co-editor of the journal Translation Review.
Dennis Kratz is married to Dr. Abby Kratz, associate provost at UT Dallas. They have one son, Matthew Kratz, who received his master’s degree in humanities from UT Dallas.