History Moments Louise Pound

One of Nebraska's premiere athletes and scholars, Louise Pound was born in Lincoln in 1872. She was home schooled until enrolling in Lincoln Latin School at age 14. At 19, she earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska and 3 years later her masters. From there, Pound began teaching English at the university. She went on to earn her doctorate in Heidelberg, Germany in two terms instead of the usual seven. Pound stayed on as faculty at UNL until her retirement in 1945. She contributed to several dictionaries and encyclopedias and wrote close to 200 articles during that time. She was the first female president of the national organization of the Modern Language Association. Sports came just as naturally to her. Pound is the only female in UNL history to receive a men's varsity letter. That was in tennis. She was also the state's top woman golfer for over two decades and started UNL's first women's basketball team.