Mary Ellen Ryder Memorial Scholarship

The Mary Ellen Ryder Memorial Fund was established in 2008 in honor of Boise State English professor Mary Ellen Ryder, who tragically died in a fire that swept through a Southeast Boise neighborhood on the night of Aug. 25, 2008. Ryder taught linguistics for 20 years in the Department of English. Her research interests included historical English word formation and stylistics, and she published a book on English noun-noun compounds. She often traveled to Great Britain to give university presentations and was believed to be one of the only linguists in Idaho who specialized in psycholinguistics. She is survived by her husband, Peter.