LAUSR

Abstract This article discusses the pioneering Hispanist, William C. Atkinson, who was Stevenson Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Glasgow (1932–1972). Vivid recollections are contributed by six of his former Honours students of Hispanic Studies during the years 1955–1962; they were some of the first students to specialize in the new Honours degree course in Latin American Studies—the first of its kind in the UK—established at Glasgow thanks to the vision and insistence of William Atkinson. As first-year students, they found him somewhat remote; but he won their respect and affection as they became senior students, and once they were his graduates he gained also their gratitude for his unfailing support in their careers. They remember Atkinson’s characteristically meticulous lecturing techniques and the high academic standards that he and his colleagues (who included the internationally respected Hispanists Ivy McClelland and Donald Shaw) instilled into all their Honours students. Under his leadership, the Department of Hispanic Studies at Glasgow University produced fine scholars and professors in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies—including, in the latter area, James Higgins, Giovanni Pontiero, John Walker and Bernard McGuirk. As a result of Atkinson’s ground-breaking work, Glasgow University was selected to host one of the five postgraduate Centres for Latin American Studies, which, thanks to the Parry Report, were established in the mid 1960s in UK universities.