Roger Hornsby, professor emeritus of classics at the University of Iowa, died Oct. 20, 2009, at the age of 83.
Hornsby received a bachelor’s degree from Western Reserve in 1949 and a Ph.D. in classics from Princeton in 1952. From 1952 to 1954, he served in the Army. He then taught at Iowa from 1954 until he retired in 1991.
He was chair of Iowa’s classics department from 1966 to 1981. Hornsby also was president of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South from 1968 to 1969, and a director of the American Philological Association from 1974 to 1977. He was a trustee of the American Academy in Rome, a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, and a trustee of the Virgilian Society.
Hornsby had a wide interest in the ancient world and its languages. His publications specialized in Latin poetry, which included books and numerous articles and reviews in professional journals. He was known as a generous host whose gatherings helped enliven the University of Iowa’s academic scene.
Hornsby was predeceased by his wife, Jessie L. Gillespie, a professor of French at Iowa, whom he had married in 1960.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.