By Sandra Feder
Ralph Hester, a prominent professor of French in the School of Humanities and Sciences, died Nov. 29 at his Stanford home. He was 88.
Ralph Hester, professor emeritus of French and Italian. (Image credit: Courtesy the Hester family)
Hester, professor emeritus in the French and Italian Department of the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, spent his entire 37-year career at Stanford. He twice served as chair of the department and as director of Stanford’s French overseas programs in both Tours and Paris.
Hester had a deep interest in how second-languages were taught. In 1974, he co-authored the French-language college textbook