Rosalind Kay Ward Gwynne retired in July, 2009, as Associate Professor Emerita, after having taught at the University of Tennessee since January, 1981.

She received her BA in French from Portland State College (now University), along with a Certificate in Middle Eastern Studies, which included credit for a year’s study of Arabic at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies, run by the British Foreign Office in Shimlan, Lebanon. Her MA in Middle Eastern Studies was earned at the University of Washington, as was her special individual PhD in Arabic Language and Philology and Islamic Literature and Theology.

Dr. Gwynne began teaching Arabic at UT as an Assistant Professor and member of the Asian Studies Committee. She received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 1987 and joined the Department of Religious Studies in 1988. She was invited by the Muslim Student Association to be its advisor in 1982 and served in that position until she retired.

Dr. Gwynne’s main interest has been the Qur’an and its varying interpretations by Muslims over the centuries. More recently, like most Middle Eastern specialists, she has been called upon by numerous groups to speak about the crises in relations between Muslim and non-Muslim countries and individuals, and differences among the various factions of Muslims. For these activities she received a Faculty Public Service Award in 2001-02 from the UT College of Arts and Sciences.