Professor Emeritus Thomas Bonner, Jr. teaches a course, generally in American literature, each semester. Having begun his teaching at Xavier in 1971, he was twice chair of English, once chair of African American Studies, and the W. K Kellogg Professor of English. He twice served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the United States Air Force Academy. His Ph.D. in English and American literature is from Tulane University. Co-founder of Xavier Review, he edited it and its press for twenty years. Bonner has books on Kate Chopin, William Faulkner, Edgar Allan Poe, Southern fiction and Southern poetry. His most recent book is Parterre: New and Collected Poetry and Prose. A collection of poems, Bagatelles, is forthcoming. His essays in scholarly journals and books include African American writers Victor Sejour, Frederick Douglass, and Jesmyn Ward.
He has been a consultant to Educational Testing Service, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Louisiana Division of the Arts, and WYES-TV. Long committed to the University's mission, Bonner considers his membership in the Xavier University community a privilege. His specialties and the subjects of much of his writing and teaching are in the fields of American literature, Southern literature, and literary New Orleans.