Noyes, Robert Gale

(Robert) Gale Noyes (1898-1961), professor of English was born in Norwich, Connecticut on September 1, 1898. After graduation from Norwich Free Academy he entered Brown and received both the bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in 1921. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard and became an assistant professor there before he returned to Brown in 1938 as associate professor of English. He served in both World Wars. In the first, he was in the Coast Guard. In the second, he was inducted the day before his 44th birthday (the cutoff point for the draft) and engaged in intelligence and public relations work with the rank of Captain. He was promoted to full professor in 1951. He was an authority on Restoration drama and eighteenth-century fiction. He published Ben Jonson on the English Stage, 1660-1776 in 1935, The Thespian Mirror in 1953, and The Neglected Muse in 1958. He was ill during the academic year 1960-61 and died in Providence on March 25. 1961. The Brown Daily Herald noted, “His classes were always full, not only with English majors but also with students representing all other disciplines. They took his course to gain an insight into life by enjoying his erudition, his sense of humor, and his vast humanity.”