Milton Henry Rickels was born in 1920, in Terra Bella, California, the son of Henry H. Rickels and the former Elsie Inez Land. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Fresno State College, his master’s degree from Claremont University College, and in 1953 received a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. In 1957, Dr. Rickels joined the faculty at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) as associate professor of English. He was a dedicated scholar and teacher. Dr. Milton taught classes in world literature, American humor, American realism, Mark Twain, comparative literature and American poetry. He retired in 1986 and died in 1997.

Patricia Kennedy Rickels was born in 1927 in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and grew up in Montana, Alaska, and the Panama Canal Zone. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in 1948 and received her master’s and doctoral degrees from LSU in 1951 and 1961 respectively. She taught in the military program in the Panama Canal Zone from 1949 to 1952, and did post-doctoral work on Negro literature and culture at Southern University during the summers of 1968 and 1969. Dr. Rickels came to SLI in 1957 as instructor of English. She was a faculty member and administrator for 50 years, and was the director of the Honors Program for 28 years. Her academic interests included American folklore and African American literature. She retired in 2007 and died in 2009.

Milton and Patricia Rickels were active scholars and published many books and articles, including some they authored together.

In 1990, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities honored Patricia and Milton Rickels as Louisiana Humanists of the Year for their contributions to the humanities and in recognition of their longtime work for civil rights, particularly on the Louisiana Council on Human Relations. They also received an LEH Special Humanities Award in 1987.