Professor Douglas Canfield

Award winning UA English prof dies

Regents Professor J. Douglas Canfield, 63, died July 3 after a two-year battle with idiopathic-pulmonary fibrosis.

For many, Canfield will be remembered as a fighter and an optimist who loved his work and his life.

Before he died, Canfield said that if his health stabilized, he would like to continue teaching English at the university until he was 70.

"I love teaching. It's in my blood," he said in February.

Although his illness required him to carry an oxygen tank with him at all times, it did not slow him down.

He taught classes five days a week and was the recipient of the 2001 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 1993 CASE Arizona Professor of the Year and Leicester and Kathryn Sherill Creative Teaching Award, and 1991 Award for Teaching Innovation in General Education. He also received three nominations for the UA Five-Star Faculty Award for Teaching. In addition, he was responsible for the revamping of the undergraduate Tier 1 general education requirements, which affect almost all UA students. Despite national merits, the Canfield said the most meaningful award he received was the Five-Star Faculty Award for Teaching in 1984, which came directly from his students.

Canfield also wrote several books since he came to the UA in 1974, and he served as the faculty adviser to both the UA Bujukon and Tae Kwon Do Clubs for several years and, until last fall, served as an AYSO National Level Soccer Referee for children under six. In addition to being an accomplished professor, Canfield was also a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife, Pamela; three sons, Robert, Bret Douglas, and Colin; and four siblings, Austin of Maryland, Maureen Lynch of Kansas, Gertrude Cavanaugh of Maryland, and Richard of Florida.

The family is planning a private ceremony; a public service with be held on campus in the fall, as well.

÷ Staff report

Sophomore pleads guilty in baby death

Former UA student Heather M. Porzel pleaded guilty to manslaughter on July 10 for killing her newborn baby during spring break in 2002.

Porzel told the judge she gave birth to the baby in a bathroom inside her family's home, on the 3200 block of South Tahoe Drive, and afterwards wrapped the baby in a towel and buried her in the backyard.

Porzel testified that she buried her newborn daughter alive last year in her parent's backyard.

Porzel was arrested March 9, 2002, after her then 18-year-old brother found that the family dog had dug up the infant and her mother called police.

Tucson Police Sgt. Marco Borboa said at the time that an autopsy revealed that the baby was a healthy female with blond hair and 3 inches of umbilical cord attached to her belly.

Porzel will be sentenced Aug. 18 to at least 12 1/2 years in prison.

÷ Staff report