Biographical Text
Professor Emeritus of Foreign Languages and Dr. Solis earned his B.A. degree in 1957, his M.A. degree in 1959, and his Ph.D. degree in 1962, all from the University of Barcelona. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Solis taught at the University of Barcelona; Holborn School of Law, Commerce and Languages, London, England (1963-1964); Northern London Polytechnic, London, England (1964- 1965); the University of Jerusalem, Department of Romance Languages (1966-1969); and at the University of Maryland (1969-1970). Dr. Solis joined the faculty at Appalachian State University on September 1, 1969. He states that his interview on a snowy February day, with a gentleman of vision and friendliness, Dr. William Strickland, dean of Arts and Sciences, along with the resemblance of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the northern mountains of Spain on the Atlantic Coast, helped him choose Appalachian State University rather than take another university's offer. Dr. Solis was chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature from 1981 to 1987; the director of the Appalachian Loft in New York in 1987; and director of the Summer Study Program in Madrid, Spain, from 1976 to 1978 and again in 1989 to 2001. In 1994, he also did a series of lectures on theory at the University of Castilla la Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain. Granted tenure in 1972, Dr. Solis recalls descending the stairs of Sanford Hall, rubbing his hand against the brick wall, and saying, "I belong in here now, I am part of this." Similarly, three decades later, as he closed his office for the last time, he found himself whispering, "All this struggling for truth goes to the spirit of this place." Dr. Solis was thinking, too, of friends and colleagues, of the mass of individuals who built Sanford Hall with their hands and minds, whom he never met, but wished he had, as he had met Cecil, the evening janitor of the fifth floor in Sanford-the late visitor of classrooms and offices, the thin figure who forced the remains of the day into the hallway with his broom, who rarely spoke to anybody except his main client at night. "It has been a long day, hasn't it, professor?" Cecil would say, and Dr. Solis would reply, "Oh yes, Cecil, it has been long indeed-thanks for this semblance of happiness of yours. You don't even feel it inside, I am sure; it is a gift for others." Respect for students, for their future, was for Professor Solis a privilege Literatures rather than a simple duty, and, for the joy of seeing students grow in the freedom of their minds, he persevered walking up and down Sanford Hall's flights of stairs for over thirty years. During his career, Dr. Solis was the recipient of several awards. Premio Exraordinario de Doctorado, University of Barcelona, 1962. • Juan March Foundation, 1962 (a prestigious grant in Spain for one year of research in England). Grant from the Ministry of Education of Israel, 1965. Purpose: Research on Modern Hebrew Poetry. National Prize "Fray Luis de Leon," 1971; awarded by the Ministry of Education, Madrid. NEH Summer Seminar, 1985, Cornell University: "Ortega and Twentieth Century Aesthetics." School of Theory and Criticism, Summer of 1987. Dartmouth College. Dr. Solis was also a prolific writer and scholar and he has had numerous articles and books published. A selection of his works follows: "Anthology of Modern Hebrew Poetry" (Madrid: Aguilar, 1970). Awarded the national prize Fray Luis de Leo 'n. "Avellaneda en su Quijote" (Bogota': Ediciones TercerMundo, 1978). "Tarde en Espana" (Bogota': Ediciones Tercer Munco, 1981. "Ejercicios de Qiiijote" (Botota': Ediciones Tercer Munco, 1982). "El arrabal de las delicias" a novel, (Madrid: Ediciones Betania 1990). Filosofia de arte y de vivir, El trabajo de no desilusionarse. Verbum Publishing, Madrid. May 23, 2000. "Dos Abundios en Pedro Pa'ramo" Excelsior (Mexico, April 8 and 13, 1969), Literary Pages. "Pasos entre las residencias de Neruda" Papeles de Son Armadans CCXII (1969) 229-242. "Las razones de Juan Rulfo" Revista de Occidente 93 (1970), 344-357. "Los noinbres de Cristo y Pietro Bembo" Modern Language Notes 86, 2 (1971) 229-242. "Una Fabula: Grabados de Tamara Rikman" Ariel 24 (1972) 125-127. "La cortesia de Jorge Manrique con la muerte" Papeles de Son Armadans CLXXIX (1971) 161-169. Dr. Solis is married to Loles Pedrero Solis, an Appalachian State University reference business librarian now retired. She was also the first director of the new Appalachian State University Loft in New York. Dr. Solis compliments his wife in these words: "An urgency of fairness inherited by Loles from her father (a chief justice in Spain) blends in with the temper of an artist, who by will and design restricts herself to enlightenments of beauty in the spaces of home and work." The Solises have two sons and four grandchildren. One son, Ramon Conrad, is a graduate of Duke University. Another son, Gerard, is a graduate of Kenyon College, Cornell University, and the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) Law School. Since their retirement, the Solises have resided in Valrico, Florida. Sources: Appalachian State University files, and personal correspondence. -Dr. Kay R. Dickson
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