Professor of English Christopher Busch is retiring from full-time teaching after 33 years. 

“I’m really grateful to have had the chance to come here,” Busch said. “The students have been just a joy.”

Busch said he will remain in Hillsdale and teach one class per semester for at least the next three years.

“One of the best parts of my day is actually being in class and being with the students,” he said. “That’s why I didn’t want to retire completely.”

College President Larry Arnn said Busch has been a faithful servant of the college. 

“He is a careful scholar, a beloved teacher, and an entirely agreeable man,” Arnn said. “We will miss him, and we thank him with all our hearts for his service.” 

Busch came to Hillsdale with his wife, Lorna, in 1991. He said his wife worked at the college in institutional advancement and later taught a few English classes before she died in 2020. Their daughters, Antonia ’16 and Mariele ’19, are Hillsdale alumnae, while their son Brendan is a current senior.

“It was really my dream to teach at a small liberal-arts college,” Busch said. “I’ve really, really loved it so much.”

Justin Jackson, chairman and professor of English, said Busch is a caring and sweet man.

“As a professor, he wants his students to learn to love literature,” Jackson said. “Everything in his classes revolves around this simple but profound premise. I think students find his classes to be an oasis from the regular pressures of their academic life because of the way he approaches teaching and in caring about his students’ learning.”

Jackson said he knows two of Busch’s children well.

“I had Antonia in Great Books a long time ago, and I used to ball all the time with Brendan,” he said. “You can see the love Dr. Busch and his wife, Lorna, raised their children with.”

Busch said his favorite courses to teach were on Willa Cather and Robert Frost, and he also loves teaching non-English majors. 

Senior exercise science major Morgan Iverson said she enjoyed her class with Busch. 

“He simply wanted you to love the books because he loves them,” she said. “Dr. Busch invites each student to share in the joy that he has each day, which is an honor to be a part of.”

Busch said something he appreciates about the college’s English department is that everyone is supportive of one another.

“We all love literature and we all love teaching,” he said. “Over the years, some of my best friends have been in the English department.”