Elliot Engel to Speak at NOC Renfro Lectureship Oct. 22

Famed author Dr. Eliot Engel reveals the life of L. Frank Baum and the reasons for the enduring and endearing fame of his “Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” at Northern Oklahoma College on Tuesday, Oct. 22, as part of the Fall 2024 Renfro Endowed Lectureship Program.

Using anecdotes, analysis, and large doses of humor, Professor Engel brings to life this most fascinating of fairy-tale writers.

The event is sponsored by the Carl and Brenda Renfro/Renfro Endowed Lectureship Program, Charles and Virginia Starks, and Northern Oklahoma College/NOC Foundation.  The dinner will be held at the Renfro Center starting at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets will be available Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 9 a.m.

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr. Elliot Engel now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at UCLA. While at UCLA he won that university’s Outstanding Teacher Award.

Dr. Engel has written ten books published in England, Japan, Turkey, and the United States. His mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations around the country. His articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and national magazines including Newsweek. He has lectured throughout the United States and on all the continents including Antarctica. Four plays which he has written have been produced during the last ten years. In 2009, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and service in promoting Charles Dickens.

For his scholarship and teaching, Dr. Engel has received North Carolina’s Adult Education Award, North Carolina State’s Alumni Professorship, and the Victorian Society’s Award of Merit.

Most recently, he was named Tar Heel of the Week for his thirty years of delivering public programs in the humanities and sponsoring state and national literary contests for high school students.

Since 1980, Dr. Engel has been President of the Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina, the largest branch of this worldwide network of clubs. The sales of Dr. Engel’s books, CDs, and DVDs have raised funds for The Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital which Dickens helped found in London in 1852.

Professor Engel continues to teach outside the classroom and give literary and historical programs throughout the world. He also presents assemblies at elementary, middle, and high schools, and his educational CDs & DVDs are used in classrooms around the country. In his spare time, he likes to imagine all the impressive hobbies and leisure pursuits he could mention here — if he ever actually would find enough spare time to indulge in them.

A reserved table with seating for eight may be purchased for $500, which includes dinner in the Renfro Center and Engel’s lecture.  Individual tickets are on sale for $25 each.

Seats are available at no charge for the lecture which will be livestreamed into the Renfro Center classrooms at NOC.

Tickets may be purchased by credit card by calling 580-628-6214 or in person at the NOC Development Office, Vineyard Library-Administration Building, NOC Tonkawa, starting Sept. 24.

Former Oklahoma State Regent for Higher Education Carl Renfro established the Renfro Endowed Lectureship Program with a gift in 2006 to provide support for cultivating and enhancing the cultural and community enrichment offerings to northern Oklahoma on the Tonkawa campus and in the Ponca City area.

Call the Northern Oklahoma College Development Office at 580.628.6214 for additional information.

Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public two-year community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services.

NOC serves nearly 4,000 students through the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, and NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater.  Of these students about 80% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. 75% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.

The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science; the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs; and the Accreditation Commission for Education and Nursing.

For more information about Northern Oklahoma College please call (580) 628-6208 or visit the NOC website at www.noc.edu.