Professor Profile: Elizabeth Lambert

By Evan Rothera

Looking at Professor Elizabeth Lambert, would you ever suspect she has published a biography of Edmund Burke and is known to be an avid lover of 18th century literature? Lambert, who did her undergraduate work at Duquesne and received a PhD from The University of Maryland, has been teaching at Gettysburg College for twenty two years. Furthermore, she has served as the Chair of the English Department and has served as Assistant Provost for two years. Even when she was an undergraduate, Lambert always felt that she loved English, though her major was radio and television journalism. She explained that her love of English is due to the fact that it encompasses so many subjects.

When Lambert went to graduate school, she though that she would focus on Shakespeare for her PhD, but then she took an 18th Century Literature course and absolutely fell in love with it. When she read the writings of Edmund Burke, she found them to be very relevant and as she began to learn more and more about Burke, she discovered that some of his background, particularly his domestic relations were a side of him which no one had really written on. So, she began to do research in England and Ireland, which she found to be exciting and fun. Lambert freely admitted that the research she did was far more interesting that actually writing her book.

In her spare time, Professor Lambert takes care of her grandchildren, likes to practice yoga, enjoys swimming and reading, and frequently travels with her husband. She says that there is always something going on with her family; most of her extended family lives close and they have Sunday dinners and spend time together. Lambert loves all kinds of animals and currently has two cats, though she has owned many cats over the years.

Like most lovers of literature, Lambert had a difficult time figuring out what her favorite book is, but she settled on Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. However, she does love novels by Charles Dickens and especially enjoys listening to his novels on tape. Her personal heroes include Edmund Burke and some of her old teachers and some retired faculty. “These are the people,” she said, “who really made a difference.”

The thing that Professor Lambert likes the most about Gettysburg College is the fact that she can see students from their first year to senior year and watch how they mature and grow — which, she says, can only really be done in a school the size of Gettysburg. She loves her department, and really the only thing that she dislikes about Gettysburg is the faculty meetings.
Lambert’s advice for students is to take advantage of these four years because students will never have them again. She stressed that the friendships students form in college are the ones that will be with them for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, she emphasized the fact that Gettysburg has many opportunities to learn both in and out of the classroom and encouraged students to seize them.