James P. Hammersmith (1949-2013) spent the vast majority of his career as an English professor in Auburn University's Department of English from 1978 to his retirement in 2008. As an undergraduate, Hammersmith attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) where he studied Renaissance English literature. He continued his education at UWM where he received his doctorate in 1976. He remained at UWM with a post-doctorate fellowship until he received a job at Auburn in 1978. During his time at Auburn, Hammersmith received a number of teaching awards from the Department of English. He also served as a co-editor of the Southern Humanities Review from 1983 to 1984. A dedicated English and William Shakespeare scholar, Hammersmith produced twenty-three articles related to textual analysis of pieces of literature, such as proofreading in certain editions of Shakespeare's texts. He also served as editor of The New Variorum Shakespeare, and worked with David Bevington on The Complete Works of Shakespeare as well as the twenty-nine volumes of the Bantam Shakespeare series.