Born in 1929 in Germany, Ottomar Rudolf lived during World War II in Ulm on the Danube. Towards the end of the war he was inducted into the Wehrmacht. He served in the Panzer Corps in 1945 and was sent to the eastern front. He returned to Ulm after being wounded. When the war ended Ulm was in the American sector of occupation. Relatives sponsored him to come to the United States. Arriving in New York in 1948, he attended Manhattan College in New York City and received a BA in Philosophy. His first teaching position was at St. Joseph"s College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the Korean War he was drafted into the Signal Corps. While serving, he became an American citizen. After Korea he was sent to Heidelberg, Germany, to finish his tour of duty. At the University of Heidelberg he studied Philosophy and German Literature and upon his return to the United States he continued those studies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He subsequently received appointments as assistant professor of German at Bryn Mawr and Haverford colleges in Pennsylvania. In 1959 he earned his PhD in Germanic Languages and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1963 he moved to Portland, Oregon to take the position of Assistant Professor of German and Humanities at Reed College, where he taught until his retirement in 1998 as Professor Emeritus. Professor Rudolf was also Visiting Professor at the universities of Freiburg and Munich. A published scholar and frequent lecturer on German culture and history, Professor Rudolf was awarded the Verdienstkreuz Erster Klasse, Officer"s Cross, by the President of Germany in 1989. He lives in Portland with his wife Catherine.