Rita Dove – 1970 Scholar

When poet Rita Dove was named Ohio’s Presidential Scholar in 1970, she surely didn’t know it was only the first of many national academic and literary honors. She served as Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1993 to 1995 and was reappointed Special Consultant in Poetry for 1999/2000. She has received numerous literary and academic honors, among them the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, the 1996 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities, the 1996 National Humanities Medal, the 2001 Duke Ellington Lifetime Achievement Award in the Literary Arts, and the 2006 Common Wealth Award for Distinguished Service. Rita Dove lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband Fred Viebahn and her daughter Aviva.