O. B. (Ovando Byron) Super

Born on March 2, 1848, in Juniata Township, Pennsylvania, Ovando Byron Super largely prepared himself for college before entering Dickinson College in 1871. He graduated near the top of the class in 1873 and later returned to Dickinson, where he became a longtime professor of Romance languages.

Super taught at several schools during his career, including the State Normal School at Athens, Ohio, and the University of Denver, but Dickinson remained the center of his professional life. He was known especially for teaching French and German and for shaping language study for generations of students.

He also wrote and edited a substantial number of textbooks, readers, and annotated editions, including French and German classroom books that circulated widely in American education. Super died in 1935, leaving behind the record of a devoted teacher-scholar whose work was built for students as much as for fellow academics.