Shakespeare Centre at Concordia University to be Named in Honor of Scholar and Donors

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Concordia University has received a $300,000 gift pledge from Mr. & Mrs. Richard Paul Roe of Pasadena, Calif.  The capital gift will support the University's Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre which will be named the Richard Paul and Jane Roe Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre.

The Centre is housed on Concordia University's Northeast Portland campus in the recently completed George R. White Library & Learning Center. Richard Roe is an enthusiastic Shakespeare scholar, and the origin of the Shakespeare texts has long been a passion for Mr. and Mrs. Roe.

"This generous gift reaffirms Concordia's ongoing commitment to academic rigor, leadership and engagement of both the local and global communities it serves.  And, it further distinguishes the authorship issue as a topic important for academic inquiry," said Gary Withers, Concordia's Executive Vice President for External Affairs.

In honor of the Roe gift, the Centre's dedication and naming ceremony will be held April 9, 2010, during the 14th annual international Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference.  This gift follows an earlier one by the Roe family, also in support of the Centre.

Roe was a bomber pilot who flew missions over Italy during the Allied campaign in WWII. His postwar interests in Italy piqued his interest in studying the many Italian settings and characters reflected in Shakespeare's plays.  A successful lawyer and real estate developer, he, over the decades, also became an accomplished Shakespeare scholar and has spoken frequently at Concordia University since the 1990s at the Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference.

The Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre is directed by Shakespeare scholar and Concordia professor Daniel Wright and was established for the scholarly pursuit of the Shakespeare authorship question.  The Centre hosts Concordia University's international Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference, which also bestows an annual Excellence in Scholarship Award on an acclaimed Shakespeare scholar.

This year's 14th annual Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference will be held from April 8-11 at Concordia University, 2811 NE Holman Street, in Northeast Portland.  Internationally-renowned Shakespeare scholar and author Charles Beauclerk will keynote the conference and kick off the U.S. release and book tour of his latest work, Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom: The True History of Shakespeare and Elizabeth.

The Centre's home, Concordia's George R. White Library & Learning Center, is a prominent new resource serving the Portland metro area and is open to the community at large.  Within the past year, the Library & Learning Center has received grants from three of Oregon's most well-respected organizations – the Meyer Memorial Trust, the Oregon Community Foundation, and the Juan Young Trust.  The Library includes classrooms, a community meeting space, a coffee shop, important centers of learning and more.

ABOUT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

Concordia University is a private, Lutheran, liberal arts university founded in 1905 and located in Northeast Portland with a mission of preparing leaders for the transformation of society.  The University serves 1,900 students through its College of Education, College of Health & Human Services, College of Theology Arts & Sciences and School of Management.

SOURCE Concordia University