Ronald W Renton

Born in December 1944, Ronald Renton was educated at St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow, and then at the University Glasgow. He graduated in English Literature and Greek in 1967.

After teacher training, he returned to St Aloysius’ College and, throughout his career, taught in the Department of English. He was appointed Principal Teacher of Guidance in 1978 and among other things established a Careers Department. In 1988, he was appointed Depute Headmaster with responsibility for the curriculum. During that period, he also facilitated the development of a new school library. Ronald retired from St Aloysius’ College in 2008.

In 1971, he became a member of the Association for Scottish Literature (ASL) and, in 1978, also became convener of its Education Committee, a post he still holds today. The purpose of this committee is to advocate and promote the teaching and study of Scottish literature and the languages of Scotland in schools and colleges. Among its many initiatives is an annual conference, running since 1983, for teachers of Scottish literary and linguistic topics, for which Ronald is responsible. Among other resources, this committee also produces a series of study guides on Scottish literary texts, called 'Scotnotes', for school pupils and undergraduates, edited by Ronald and Lorna Smith. Forty-five of these texts have been produced and more are planned. Ronald is also a member of the Publications Board of ASL.

He is joint founder, with the late Brian Osborne, and Chair of the Neil Munro Society, the purpose of which was to promote the work of novelist and journalist Neil Munro (1863 to 1930). The Society existed from 1996 to 2022 and facilitated the re-publication of all his books, ran lectures, and published a journal and book of essays dedicated to his work.

In the years immediately after his retirement, Ronald joined three working parties commissioned by the Scottish Qualifications Authority to develop the Curriculum for Excellence. These were on Scottish literature, Scots Language and Gaelic.

Ronald has also been involved in editing several publications, including a pocket Gaelic dictionary and, most recently, the collected works of dramatist and novelist John Brandane.