Charles Mills Gayley

Born in 1858 and active during the formative years of the University of California, Charles Mills Gayley became the first chair of Berkeley’s English department and led it from 1889 until his retirement in 1923. He was remembered at Berkeley as a transformative figure and an exceptionally popular teacher whose lectures could fill the Greek Theatre.

Gayley was a wide-ranging literary scholar with interests that stretched across English literature, mythology, and cultural history. Among the books confirmed during this search are Classical Myths in English Literature (1893) and Shakespeare and the Founders of Liberty in America (1917), which show both his classical grounding and his interest in the civic force of literature.

He died in 1932, but his influence lasted well beyond his lifetime. Berkeley established the annual Charles Mills Gayley Lecture in 1933 in his honor, a sign of how strongly he remained linked with the department he helped build.