Edward Callan (1917-2011) was born in Ireland and lived in South Africa for many years before emigrating to the United States in 1952. After teaching stints at Fordham and Loyola universities, he settled in Kalamazoo in 1957, teaching English at WMU until his retirement in 1983 after 26 years of service to the University.
He was an authority on the works of poets W.H. Auden and William Butler Yeats, as well as on the literature, history and politics of South Africa. He also was one of the University's most honored faculty members. In 1983, Callan was appointed a Distinguished Faculty Professor, WMU's highest faculty honor, and in 1980, he was named a Distinguished Faculty Scholar, WMU's highest scholarly award.
Callan was a bibliographer of the works of the South African author / activist Alan Paton. Apart from being a bibliographer, Edward Callan also wrote critical studies of Paton's works. Callan compiled several bibliographies on Paton's work such as Alan Paton (New York: Twain Publisher, 1968), a revised edition of Alan Paton (Boston: Twain Publishers, 1970), and a bibliography of Alan Paton in German entitled: Alan Paton (Hamburger Bibliographien) (Hamburg: H. Christians, 1970).