Dr. Joshua A. Mayo named Professor of the Year

Dr. Joshua A. Mayo ’10 will be honored as Grove City College’s 2023 ODK Professor of the Year at next week’s Honors Convocation.

Mayo is department chair and associate professor of English. He also teaches in the Writing Program and the Humanities Core and serves as the faculty adviser for The Quad literary magazine.

He is highly regarded by his students for maintaining academic excellence, engaging them intellectually, and consistently demonstrating Christian character. “It is a rare individual who can be spoken of with such enthusiasm, both in his own department and equally by those outside of his department. Dr. Mayo’s reputation for kindness and excellence goes before him, making him an exemplary professor and man,” one senior said.

“Dr. Mayo is an outstanding scholar and an extraordinarily caring person. He embodies the best of what distinguishes a Grove City College professor,” said President Paul J. McNulty.

“Josh is a generous-spirited and encouraging colleague,” Dr. Eric A. Potter, professor of English, said of Mayo. “As a teacher he is passionate in pursuing wisdom and adept at providing deep insights in a personable and engaging way. As department chair, he has fostered a spirit of hospitality that is welcoming to students and colleagues alike.”

“I am deeply grateful for this award. It blesses my soul. I love to teach here,” Mayo said. “Grove City College is a place where biblical imagination and serious inquiry are still possible. I am regularly amazed by the profound Christian wisdom of my colleagues and the earnest faith of my students. In many respects, it is the ideal institution of higher education.”

Mayo said he hopes he conveys a larger truth to his students through his work as a teacher, advisor, and mentor. “I want my students to know that friendship with God is the summum bonum – the highest good – of living,” he said. “In John 17:3, our Lord prays to the Father, ‘This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ Communion with God really is possible: In our work, our play, our studies, our worship.”

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Grove City College, Mayo earned an M.A. from the University of Mississippi and his Doctor of Philosophy in English from the University of Dallas.

He joined his alma mater’s faculty in 2015. He teaches the first half of the British literature survey and has offered a variety of specialized courses on a wide range of literary topics including mystery fiction and adventure stories.

A Shakespeare scholar, Mayo recently published the book “Good in Everything: Meditations on Shakespeare.” In addition, he has published articles on a variety of authors from John Donne to Emily Dickinson to George McDonald in such publications as First Things and Touchstone. He also frequently writes for The Circe Institute, an organization that fosters classical education.

The recipient of the annual award is selected by the College’s chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honorary that has recognized collegiate scholarship, leadership, and citizenship for more than a century. The College chapter has been honoring faculty with the Professor of the Year award since 2000.

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