Tom Barden (MA 1972, Ph.D. 1975, University of Virginia) is professor of English who specializes in American literature and folklore. His books include Weevils in the Wheat (1980), Virginia Folk Legends (1991), and Hungarian American Toledo (2002). He is currently researching the non-fiction of John Steinbeck, including his ethnographic, journalistic, and war correspondence writing. Since Spring 2006, he has been the director of the University Honors Program.