Background image: Portrait of Charles Mills Gayley
Named in honor of the first Chair of the Berkeley English Department, The Charles Mills Gayley Lecture is delivered each year by a member of the faculty chosen by their peers. Gayley (1858-1932) was a transformational figure in the history of the University of California. A wildly popular teacher whose lectures filled the Greek Theatre, and a wide-ranging scholar among whose many books include Classical Myths in English Literature (1893) and Shakespeare and the Founders of Liberty in America (1917), Gayley served as the Chair of the English department from 1889 until his retirement in 1923. The Gayley Lecture was established in 1933, and the first Charles Mills Gayley Lecturer was Benjamin Kurtz, Gayley’s student, colleague, and eventual biographer. The topic of Professor Kurtz’s inaugural Charles Mills Gayley lecture was the scholarship of Charles Mills Gayley. Delivering the Gayley Lecture is the highest honor that the department bestows upon a member of its faculty, and it remains the highlight of the academic year.
The 2025 Charles Mills Gayley Lecture will be delivered by Professor Elisa Tamarkin.
