In Memoriam: Nancy Ellen Talburt

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Nancy Ellen Talburt

Dr. Nancy Ellen Talburt, professor emeritus of English and a former vice provost for academic affairs, passed away March 22, 2025, at the age of 87.

Talburt served the University of Arkansas in a wide range of administrative roles, including as associate director of libraries, director of records, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and vice provost for Academic Affairs, before her retirement in 2010.

“She was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” said Kathy Van Laningham, a former colleague of Talburt’s. “Her deep knowledge about higher education was invaluable to the work of Academic Affairs. She rose through the ranks of higher education because everyone recognized her intelligence and ability.”

The number of panels, boards and committees she served on at the U of A is almost too great to list. In 1976, she chaired the university’s American Revolution Bicentennial Committee, lining up a series of speakers to talk about American life, history and culture. She also served on campus council and as director of summer school for several years.

In 1986, 1997 and 2007, Talburt led the U of A’s accreditation reviews; her novel approach led to the U of A creating a self-report on progress every two years, thereby reducing the preparation needed for the decennial accreditation report. "We have had an impact on higher education in general with this," Talburt said. "A lot of institutions are doing similar things now, but we did it first."

Described as a lifelong learner, her academic career began at Arkansas State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in mathematics, before coming to the U of A, where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in English. She continued her postdoctoral studies in linguistics and English literature at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Her career at the U of A began in 1969, first as a professor of English. Talburt taught 20 different courses on popular literature, linguistics, the novel and world literature, in addition to courses she developed on the genre she was most passionate about, mystery and detective fiction.

Talburt was a prolific contributor to professional journals and textbooks, including the Dictionary of Literary Biography, the Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, the Guide to Great Women Mystery Writers and others. She was co-editor, along with Lyna Lee Montgomery, of stories collected in A Mystery Reader. In 2009, Talburt received the George N. Dove award from the Mystery and Detective Fiction Caucus of the Popular Culture Association.

Outside the U of A, she was just as active. She chaired 25 North Central Association accreditation teams and served on 15 others in the U.S. and around the world. She was elected president of Phi Beta Kappa – one of the most prestigious honor societies for the liberal arts – and the American Association of University Professors.

Over the course of two decades, she also served the state of Arkansas in many roles: as a governor’s appointee to the Arkansas Commission on Community-Based Rehabilitation for 16 years; on the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Pardon, Parole and Sentencing; and on the Arkansas Board of Corrections, where she was tasked by then-Gov. Clinton to take up reforms of the agency.

Talburt was born on Jan. 14, 1938, to William Curtis Brown and Marguerite Rhodes Brown in Orange, California. Her family moved to Jonesboro in 1946, when she was 8 years old.

 She was preceded in death by her parents, her nephew Jeffrey Martin James and cousin James Robert Rhodes III. She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Susan Carole James and John Edward James of Little Rock; her cousin, Jennifer Rhodes (Gus Costantino); and many other family members and friends.