EAST LANSING, Mich.  Richard E. Sullivan, a widely respected former Michigan State University faculty member and administrator who was a leading historian and teacher of the humanities for 34 years, died Thursday, May 26. He was 84.

Sullivan joined the MSU faculty in 1954 as an assistant professor of history. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1958 and to full professor in 1961. He received the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1964 in recognition of his sustained record of scholarly excellence in research, teaching and outreach.

In 1966 he was named chairperson of the Department of History, a position he held until 1970, when he was named dean of the College of Arts and Letters. He served as dean until 1979, when he returned to teaching history and humanities. In 1982, he served as acting associate provost for one year. He retired in 1988 as professor emeritus of history and humanities.

“Richard Sullivan was a distinguished scholar who had a deep insight into and extraordinary appreciation for the role of the humanities in the land-grant tradition,” said MSU President Lou Anna Kimsey Simon. “Over the years, I have appreciated and valued his wisdom and guidance, as well as his many contributions to Michigan State as a teacher, scholar and administrator.”

“I was very sad to hear of Richard Sullivan’s passing,” said Patrick M. McConeghy, acting dean of the College of Arts and Letters. “He was the consummate scholar, an inspiring administrator, and a wonderfully warm and caring human being always at the ready with a quick wit and a wonderful sense of humor. From the very beginning of my time here at Michigan State in 1977 I have looked up to Richard as a model of what we as educators and thinkers should strive to become.”  

As a historian, Sullivan’s specialty was the history of Western civilization and in particular the medieval period, including its religious, cultural, and social aspects. His books include “Heirs of the Roman Empire” (Cornell University Press, 1960), “Aix-la-Chapelle in the Age of Charlemagne”(University of Oklahoma Press, 1963), “A Short History of Western Civilization” (with John B. Harrison, Knopf, 1966), and “Speaking for Clio” (Thomas Jefferson University Press, 1991).

“While I had known Richard for many years, my acquaintance with him grew especially during his retirement years,” said S. J. Thomas, professor of history.

“He was a scholar to the very end, setting aside one bedroom of a two-bedroom retirement apartment as an office where he continued, despite failing health, to try to keep up with the literature in his field of medieval history. He was especially grateful when I was able to arrange for him to receive photocopies of scholarly articles from the MSU library when he was no longer able to go there himself. I was grateful just to be able to do something that would give him such pleasure.He was a man of great integrity and kindness, a gentleman and scholar who made MSU a better place because of his presence and influence.”

Richard Eugene Sullivan was born on March 27, 1921. He held a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (1949), an AM from the University of Illinois (1947), and an AB from the University of Nebraska (1942).

Arrangements for a university memorial service are pending.