Accomplished medievalist and Professor Emeritus of History John Sommerfeldt, PhD, passed away this week.

A prominent scholar of medieval history, Dr. Sommerfeldt specialized in Cistercian studies, especially the work of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Aelred of Rievaulx. He was co-founder of the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University and the principal organizer of the International Congress of Medieval Studies, which led the field in welcoming young scholars and remains the largest annual conference of medieval studies.

Dr. Sommerfeldt was a pillar of the University of Dallas community. He served as university president from 1978 to 1980 and taught in the Department of History for more than 40 years. He is the benefactor and namesake of the Sommerfeldt Senior Thesis Award, awarded to graduating history majors for an excellent senior thesis. For his scholarship and skill in teaching, Dr. Sommerfeldt received the King Fellow faculty award in 2009.

“Professor Sommerfeldt was a great friend of many former students, colleagues, staff and many others, near and far, and a great champion for the excellence of a University of Dallas education,” said UD President Jonathan J. Sanford, PhD.

Fellow History Department faculty member Charles Sullivan, PhD, said Dr. Sommerfeldt taught with joy.

“A word that John Sommerfeldt very much liked to use was ‘splendid,’” Dr. Sullivan recalled. “When the Department of History gathered each year to read its senior theses, and John encountered a thesis that had done great research on a well-conceived question (and had also mastered the intricacies of English punctuation), he’d enthusiastically declare ‘Splendid!’ John deserves the same accolade: He lived a life of splendid Catholicity, splendid generosity and splendid good cheer.”

Bishop Greg Kelly, BA ’78 MDiv ’82, will celebrate a memorial Mass for Dr. Sommerfeldt this Friday, Dec. 8, at 10 a.m. in the Church of the Incarnation. It will be streamed at this link.

Please join us in praying for Dr. Sommerfeldt’s soul and the consolation of his family.