The Frederic J. Shepler Memorial Prize in French was established in 1984 by alumni, friends, colleagues, and family in memory of Frederic J. Shepler, an esteemed professor of French in the Department of Romance Languages. The prize is awarded annually to that senior French major who has demonstrated high achievement in the study of French literature and in the understanding of poetry in particular.

Frederic J. Shepler was born in Cambridge and grew up in Lynn. He graduated from Lynn English High School and earned an undergraduate degree from Boston University in 1962. He continued his education with a master's degree from Middlebury College in Vermont and a doctorate in French literature from Yale in 1968. He also studied at the Sorbonne for a year and a half. In 1968 he came to Tufts as associate professor of French. In 1974 he was the first faculty member to receive the Lillian and Joseph Leibner Award for excellence in teaching and advising of students. He was a specialist in twentieth-century French poetry, particularly Ren, Char, and Henri Michaux. He also wrote and translated poetry. In 1978 and 1979, he taught at Tufts Medical School and worked with its faculty to find ways to introduce the humanities into the medical school curriculum. After his death in 1984, the Department of Romance Languages established the prize in his honor.

Source: BTU[Arts and Sciences/Engineering];100H

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