Ray Arsenaultâs USFSP students talk about their teacher
The retiring professor taught at the St. Petersburg campus for 40 years.
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Updated Dec. 11, 2020
Ray Arsenault taught thousands of students during his 40 years at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. We asked a few of them for their comments about him. The responses are edited for length.
The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea.
It sounds cliched to say that I would not be who I am today if not for Ray. But the truth fits the cliche here, like Ray to teaching, book writing and a Tampa Bay Rays ball cap. I owe my career and whatever success Iâve enjoyed to his guidance and wisdom, to say nothing of his unsparing generosity. Countless students can say as I can that my life changed in immeasurable ways when Ray became my mentor early in graduate school. Thirty years later, he remains a mentor and always will be.
For historian Ray Arsenault, 40 years at USFSP has been âa wonderful lifeâ
The beloved teacher and campus leader retired at the end of the past semester. But what is he going to do with 15,000 books?
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Ray Arsenault, the John Hope Franklin Professor of History and Florida Studies co-founder at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, is retiring after 40 years at the university, at his office in the historic Snell House, on campus, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020 in St. Petersburg. [ MARTHA ASENCIO RHINE | Times ]
Updated Dec. 11, 2020
One of the first problems Raymond Arsenault will face in retirement is what to do with his legendary book collection.