Julie Paegle, a professor of English, an accomplished and acclaimed poet, highly trained literary critic and Pulitzer Prize nominee, passed away on Sept. 11.

Paegle, who joined CSUSB in 2006 as an assistant professor, taught a wide array of courses for the English department, ranging from graduate-level poetry workshops, to special topics courses on classical and contemporary epic literature to general education world literature.

She mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students over the years, directing multiple MFA theses, advising students on honors projects, and giving her time in many other ways. She also served as the English department’s faculty advisor to the Palm Desert Campus, where she taught regularly, dedicating herself to student success.

Paegle was promoted to associate professor in 2010 and became a full professor in 2014. During the course of her career, she served in numerous important roles in her department and for the university as a whole, including as director of the English department’s MFA in Creative Writing program from 2013-2016. She earned her MFA and Ph.D. from the University of Utah.

Paegle was the author of two highly commended poetry collections: “Torch Song Tango Choir” (2010) and “Twelve Clocks” (2015), both part of the University of Arizona Press’s prestigious Camino del Sol Latina and Latino Literary Series. Her poems have been published in highly prestigious journals such as Kenyon Review and Epoch, which are widely anthologized. She was also one of only 12 writers featured in Juanita Herrera’s 2018 volume, “Mapping South American Latina/o Literature in the United States,” part of Palgrave Macmillan’s Literature of the Americas Series.

“Julie’s passing is a tremendous loss to the entire CSUSB community and all those who knew and worked with her,” said Rueyling Chuang, dean of the CSUSB College of Arts & Letters. “Her colleagues and students will remember her fondly as an immensely talented writer, poet, and teacher. She had a luminous and kind-hearted spirit.”  

Condolences may be sent by mail to Paegle’s parents, Jan and Julia Paegle, at the following address: 4661 South Brookwood Drive, Salt Lake City, UT  84117-4909.