Hal Fox
University of Mississippi Professor Emeritus John W. Winkle III is remembered by students and faculty members as an immensely engaging and supportive mentor and colleague.
Winkle died Sunday, Oct. 23, at the age of 75 after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Visitation was held at Waller Funeral Home in Oxford on Wednesday, Oct. 26. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. today at the Oxford-University United Methodist Church.
Winkle, a beloved political science professor, started teaching at the University of Mississippi in 1974 after graduating from Duke University with a doctoral degree in political science.
“His class (The Supreme Court in a Partisan Age) was far from what you’d imagine an academic class would be like. We went into his class every Wednesday night to have conversations and get to know each other,” Kresha Patel, a pre-law international studies major, said.
Patel believes Winkle created a space where students were unafraid to share their opinions and that he earnestly cared for his students.
“He truly wanted to get to know us as individuals and always reminded us that we have an ally in him. I am grateful and lucky to have experienced one of his classes,” Patel said.
Daneel Konnar, a junior public policy leadership major also taking “The Supreme Court in a Partisan Age,” said that Winkle always listened to students.
“When a professor listens to you, and in a way engages in the conversation that makes you feel heard and makes you feel like you are saying something right, that goes such a long way, and that’s what Dr. Winkle did,” Konnar said.
The class, held every Wednesday night from 6 to 8 p.m., revolved around group discussion on articles surrounding the Supreme Court and other political issues in the United States. Konnar believes the class prompted students to think about big issues and that Winkle was preparing students to make a positive impact in the world.
“We talked a lot about what our generation can do as future leaders to hopefully mitigate and solve those issues,” Konnar said.
Winkle was known for teaching constitutional law at the University of Mississippi until his retirement in 2013. Miles Armaly, an associate professor of law at the University of Mississippi, began teaching the constitutional law class after Winkle, and Armaly will also teach “The Supreme Court in a Partisan Age” in Winkle’s stead.
“While Dr. Winkle and I had met a couple of times, we did not know each other well,” Armaly said. “I’m honored to step in to finish his course, and I am thrilled to be working with outstanding students, but I recognize that I have very large shoes to fill.”
John Bruce, chair of the political science department, was Winkle’s colleague for more than 25 years.
“He was a delightful man. He was somebody who took great joy in student accomplishments and took even greater joy in the accomplishments of his children and his wife,” Bruce said. “His youngest son was playing baseball, and he would come and tell me all about what his son had done. And when his wife (Ellen Meacham, an instructional assistant professor of journalism at UM) published this fantastic book (“Delta Epiphany: Robert F. Kennedy in Mississippi”) there was literally no one in the world that was more proud of it than John.”
Bruce also highlighted Winkle’s extensive contributions to the university itself.
“He wasn’t just here for a long time. He was here a long time, and he did a lot of stuff. It was the stuff in the classroom. It was his research, but it was also the contributions he made across campus in a huge range of formats,” Bruce said. “His biggest legacy is his family and the students he’s touched over the years, but he also left a mark on the structure of the university.”
Winkle was instrumental in laying the groundwork for what would in later years become the Trent Lott Leadership Institute, and he helped to write the UM Creed, which each new student agrees to when entering the university. Additionally, Winkle played a large part in the creation of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.
“Dr. Winkle had a foundational role in establishing the honors college as we know it, first by serving on the curriculum committee when the Honors College was founded in 1997 and then by teaching our honors freshman seminars for at least 17 years,” John Samonds, associate dean of the honors college, said.
Winkle also helped to coordinate faculty development and taught several experiential learning and special topic courses in the honors college.
“His impact on the honors college is immeasurable,” Samonds said.
On Oct. 14, a little more than a week before his death, a room on the third floor of the honors college building was dedicated to Winkle, named the John Winkle Reading Room.
“This is a quiet space that honors students can use for study and meditation,” Ethel Young Scurlock, dean of the honors college, said. “We hope the historical plaque and picture of him will help us preserve and share Dr. Winkle’s legacy as an honors professor.”
Ole Miss law professor David Case knew Winkle for nearly 40 years, first as a student of his in 1984. He partially credits his decision to go to law school to Winkle.
“He was my favorite professor when I was an undergraduate political science student at Ole Miss during the 1980s,” Case said. “He was the best professor I ever had at any level of my education. When I joined the faculty as a professor at the law school in 2007, one of the things I was most excited about was becoming a faculty colleague of John Winkle at Ole Miss.”
Case put into perspective the tremendous number of people that Winkle has influenced.
“As a professor at Ole Miss law, I have interacted with a remarkable number of students who also viewed John as their favorite and best professor from their undergraduate years and who they also view as having a life-long impact on them,” Case said. “Three of my own children have graduated from Ole Miss during the last several years, and they also viewed John as their favorite professor and someone who has greatly influenced their lives.”
Winkle is survived by his wife, Ellen Meacham of Taylor; his three sons, Johnny Winkle (Amy) of Atlanta; Jason Winkle (Felicia) of Memphis and Will Winkle of Taylor; his brother, Joseph R. Winkle (Kimberley) of Carmel, Ind.; six grandchildren, a niece and a nephew.
Donations in Winkle’s honor can be made to the John W. Winkle III Fund for Faculty Excellence, which provides scholarship funds for students and UM Mock Trial team members through the University of Mississippi Foundation.
