Nina J. Auerbach, professor emerita of English at the University of Pennsylvania, died on February 3 at age 73.

Dr. Auerbach earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctorate in English literature from Columbia University. She taught at Hunter College and at California State University in Los Angeles before joining Penn’s department of English in 1972 as an assistant professor. She received Guggenheim and Ford Foundation fellowships and in 1983, she received a Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (Almanac April 19, 1983). Dr. Auerbach was named the John Welsh Centennial Professor of History and Literature in 1991, a position she held until her retirement (Almanac April 30, 1991). In 2000, she received the annual Distinguished Scholarship Award from the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts.

She retired and was named professor emerita in English in 2010. 

              
Dr. Auerbach published several books and articles and delivered lectures in the fields of Victorian literature, theater, cultural history, horror fiction and film. Dr. Auerbach’s book, Daphne du Maurier, Haunted Heiress inaugurated the University of Pennsylvania Press series, Personal Takes. She also was co-editor of the Norton Critical edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Prior to her death, Dr. Auerbach had been working on a study of ghosts titled Lost Lives. She had recently completed an essay on the 1940 film adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray, set for publication by Oxford University Press as part of a collection in 2018.

She is survived by her brother, Andrew; her cousins, Deborah Offner, David Eliscu, James Rubin, Patricia Sacks and Jane Hoffman; and her beloved dog, Mickey.

A memorial at Penn is planned for April 18. Gifts can be made to the Nina J. Auerbach Scholarship Fund to provide fellowships for graduate students interested in studying Victorian Literature, by mailing a check payable to: Trustees, University of Pennsylvania, with a memo line specifying The Nina J. Auerbach Scholarship Fund. Checks can be mailed to: Jean-Marie Kneeley, School of Arts & Science, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Market St., Suite 300, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3284.