Frederick Link, 81, of Lincoln, died Oct. 7.

Link is former chair and longtime faculty member of the Department of English. He is known for his passion for sharing the excitement of learning as well as his love of teaching undergraduate students.

Link joined the UNL faculty in 1963. He spent more than 40 years with the department, including nine years as chair.
As a scholar, he worked to preserve works of literature from the 17th and early 18th centuries, as well as those of Nebraska writer Willa Cather. He was part of a trio of UNL professors — with the late scholars Susan Rosowski and Chuck Mignon — who worked to ensure the historical accuracy of Cather’s books for future generations. In addition to being a meticulous editor of literary texts, he was an incisive editor of his fellow editors’ own essays, doing his best to bring everyone to the level of his own lucid prose.

Colleagues remember Link for his insights, bone-dry wit, and commitment to the highest standards of scholarship.
Memorials can be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music, and the Willa Cather Scholarly Editions Project at UNL.