Combining the tenure track with the family track is no easy feat. But Pamela Saur has navigated a sure track to academic success—so much so that she earned two of Lamar University’s highest faculty honors within less than six weeks.
Saur, professor of English and modern languages, is Lamar’s 2007 University Professor and its 2007 University Scholar.
The professorship, awarded for life to recognize a senior faculty member for distinguished teaching, is the most prestigious faculty award conferred by Lamar’s academic community. The scholar award is the university’s highest honor recognizing research and creative activities, designed to honor a career of scholarship and professional achievement.
Few faculty members anywhere have been as productive as Pamela Saur, says Stephen Doblin, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Often it is said that someone has taught the entire curriculum. Well, Pam has; in fact, she has added courses to the German curriculum, and then taught them,” Doblin said.
She is an internationally recognized scholar in Austrian literature and recognized as one of Lamar’s most respected and talented faculty members.
Among Saur’s many leadership roles at Lamar, Doblin said, one stands out as the most challenging—as chair from 1995 to 1998 of Lamar’s steering committee for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the national accrediting body for higher education. Because of Saur’s efforts, Lamar completed its last SACS reaffirmation with several, rare commendations. In 1998, the Faculty Senate unanimously endorsed a resolution expressing thanks to Saur “for a difficult job extremely well done.”
She and her husband, Steve, assistant professor of social work, have spent most of their teaching careers at Lamar—after years of challenges in juggling the pursuit of advanced degrees with raising children and finding the right fit in collegiate environments.
“We are lucky to be tenured at the same university,” she said. “We had been married 19 years and had lived in five states when we came to Lamar with our two young children. I am especially proud of these awards because Lamar has meant so much to our family.”
Saur’s parents were from Minnesota, but she was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., while her father was attending graduate school at Columbia University en route to becoming a sociology professor. She grew up in Washington state, Minnesota and Iowa. Saur decided early on to follow in her father’s footsteps, declaring during a junior high career day that she wanted to be a professor when she grew up.
“I began studying German in high school, which was a common thing to do in Iowa because about half of the people have German ancestory—we had 71 people in our German Club. After I went to college, as an English major, I learned about a program in Vienna and started taking more German. I got a double major and spent my junior year abroad in Vienna. I’ve never recovered from that. I still love Vienna and Austria and have been involved in Austrian literature more than 30 years.”
Saur earned bachelor of arts, master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from the University of Iowa and a master’s in education from the University of Massachusetts.
She and Steve met as students at the University of Iowa. “We went to Omaha together, strictly by chance,” she recalls. “We were assigned to the same car to campaign for Eugene McCarthy in what was called the ‘Children’s Crusade.’”
They married Nov. 1, 1969, in Iowa City, Iowa. There were some tough times along the way, with small children, tiny apartments and long moves. “I remember someone once saying to me, ‘What! You’re 35 years old and you’re both in school and you have two kids?’ And I thought, ‘My gosh, you’re right. That is crazy.’
“When you have one career, it’s difficult enough, but two together is quite challenging to get all the education you need and raise your family,” Pam said.
They lived in Iowa, then Florida, where Steve earned his master’s in social work, and in Louisiana, where Pam had a temporary job at Louisiana Tech in Ruston. Then it was north to Boston, where Steve pursued an advanced degree at Brandeis University while Pam earned a second degree in education, and back south, where Pam taught at Auburn at Montgomery. They came to Lamar in 1988 and, Pam said, “within a couple of years, we both had tenure-track positions. I love the combination of teaching, research and service that the academic profession offers, especially, the chances we have to choose our own initiatives . . . We participate in all the activities, go to sporting events, support Lamar. We have a great situation here.”
The Saurs’ son, Henry ’01, a communication graduate, is a rising executive with Enterprise Rent A Car. He and his wife, Elena (Chapman) ’02 live in Pearland with their daughter, Carlee Marie. Daughter Cathy (Saur) Allen ’01, ’04 earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public education. Taking after her father, she has a career in public service with the Social Security Administration in Port Arthur. Cathy and her husband, Kenny, live in Beaumont with their daughter, Tabitha Rose.
Aside from her family and campus activities, Saur relishes regular visits to Vienna, which has by now become a second home. “Every couple of years, I try to go to Austria to present a paper or study in the libraries. And I’m dull. I don’t go to Germany. I don’t go to France. I don’t ever go to other parts of Austria. I’m very focused on Vienna, where I also love to go to plays.”
David Castle, professor of political science, nominated Saur for University Professor, describing her as “quite possibly the best, most productive scholar among our ranks.”
“Dr. Saur is the model of a teacher-scholar, and Lamar University is truly fortunate to have such a distinguished scholar on the faculty,” wrote Kevin Dodson, professor of philosophy, in nominating her for University Scholar. “Dr. Saur has achieved recognition as one of the leading scholars in her research field, modern Austrian literature.
“In keeping with the wide range of her teaching assignments, Pam has published and presented scholarly papers on a truly impressive array of subjects in literature, language and culture. She has written on authors such as Edward Albee, William Faulkner, Eugene O’Neill, Sophocles, Chekhov and Duong Thu Huong and, more generally, on literary history and criticism, women’s studies, cultural issues and contemporary German studies.”
Saur publishes frequently in a number of journals, including Modern Austrian Literature, the most prestigious publication in its field, and has contributed chapters to various scholarly and reference works, as well as addressing international conferences.
Saur has five books, 100 scholarly publications and 80 professional presentations to her credit. Ariadne Press of California has published several translations, with another due in 2008. The new book chronicles the life and writings of Rosa Mayreder (1858-1938), the most important member of the Austrian women’s movement at the turn of the last century.
In addition to German, Saur has taught English as a second language, linguistics, English composition, sophomore literature and advanced literature. She helped set state standards for foreign language teacher preparation and was editor of the Texas Foreign Language Association Bulletin. She has served as a Texas Education Agency consultant, as chief editor of Schatzkammer, a national journal for instructors of German, and on the executive board of the Conference of College Teachers of English, which honored her with two world literature awards.
Of two top awards coming so close together, Saur said, “It’s such a great honor. I love Lamar so much that to be honored by my peers, my administrators and all the people who contributed to making those decisions, it’s extremely gratifying—a lifetime award for me and a great high point in my career.”
