Rocky Mount, N.C.— Dr. Kenneth V. Finney, professor of history at North Carolina Wesleyan College for 35 years, retired at the end of the college’s spring 2008 semester and has been awarded professor emeritus status by Wesleyan’s board of trustees.

Dr. Finney came to Wesleyan in 1973 after earning his undergraduate degree at Eastern Montana College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Tulane University.

Throughout his distinguished career at Wesleyan he was recognized for his teaching and scholarship. He received many honors, a few of which include receiving Wesleyan’s Exemplary Teacher Award in 1999 and being named an Alumni Distinguished Scholar, a Jefferson-Pilot Professor, and a Danforth Fellow.

His students considered him an inspirational teacher, and to many he also was a mentor and counselor as well.

During his long career, Dr. Finney taught history of Latin America, Europe, and technology, and at one time taught Social Studies Methods for the teacher education program. In addition to his regular teaching load, he published extensively, offered workshops for faculty, presented his work at professional meetings, addressed numerous organizations, was active in the community, and helped start several local churches.

Dr. Finney is known especially for his lively courses in Latin American history. The son of missionaries who lived in Latin America for several years, Dr. Finney gained firsthand knowledge of that area and lived in Honduras from 1970-1971 while working on his doctoral dissertation.
Today, Dr. Finney is a veteran scholar of Honduran history who plans to continue his work in retirement. He recently released his “Hapsburg Honduras,” a work-in-progress that is the first of a proposed 10-volume narrative that will chronicle 200 years of events and serve as a reference and stimulus for additional research in Honduran and Central American studies.