Donate to the Department of English in Memory of Professor Kimberly Cole Winebrenner
Kimberly Cole Winebrenner was a professor of English at Kent State University from 1983 to 2020. A native of Canton, Ohio, Professor Winebrenner grew up in Green, Ohio. She earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. at Kent State. Professor Winebrenner was a beloved teacher, mentor, advisor, and guide to countless students during her long service to the university. Her husband of thirty years, Kurt, noted that “[w]hile she did not have any biological children, she was a mother to thousands of Kent State students.” Professor Winebrenner focused on early American literature during her doctoral research, devoting her dissertation to the Puritan poet, Anne Bradstreet. She loved to teach both early American literature and women’s literature, among many other types of classes, and introduced generations of students to the brilliance, wit, and insight of the authors she loved the most, Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson. Professor Winebrenner was devoted to supporting her faculty colleagues and became a leader within the KSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). She was always generous with her time, devoting many hours not only to teaching but also to helping students to connect with one another through organizations, writing workshops, book clubs, and student publications. She was enormously proud of helping to create Sigma Tau Delta, the KSU English Honors Society. Over many years, and with a passionate devotion to caring for her students, Professor Winebrenner made the Undergraduate Studies Center in the English department a true home away from home. Her brother, Joseph Cole, offered these lines from Emily Dickinson to sum up Professor Winebrenner’s enduring message to her students: “There is no Frigate like a book / to take us Lands away.” The students and faculty of the English Department were blessed for many years with Professor Winebrenner’s vision, compassion, and love for learning.
To contribute to the English Academic Development Fund in her memory, you can make a contribution online.
To contribute via check, please make it out to Kent State University Foundation and add “Professor Kimberly Cole Winebrenner” in the memo line. Please include your address and telephone number. Gifts can be mailed to:
Kent State University Foundation
350 S. Lincoln Street
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, Ohio 44242-0001
Kimberly Cole Winebrenner (Written by Dr. Robert Sturr, Kent State University, Stark Campus)