Gary Taylor

Gary Taylor, Robert Lawton Distinguished University Professor of English at Florida State University, is an American academic renowned for his editorial and critical scholarship on Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. He co-edited seminal works such as The Oxford Shakespeare, The Oxford Middleton, and The New Oxford Shakespeare, and founded Florida State's interdisciplinary History of Text Technologies program. Previously, he taught at Oxford University, Catholic University of America, Brandeis University (as Chair of English), and the University of Alabama (directing the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies).

• Education: Bachelor's in English and Classics from University of Kansas (1975), Doctorate in English from University of Cambridge (1988)

His research spans Shakespearean studies, early modern textual culture, canon formation, and intersections of race, gender, and identity. His editorial work on The Collected Works of Thomas Middleton (2007), co-edited with John Lavagnino, involved 75 contributors and redefined Middleton’s status as a key Renaissance playwright. Publications include influential books like Reinventing Shakespeare (1989) and Buying Whiteness (2005).

Taylor’s academic contributions have been recognized through fellowships from the Folger Shakespeare Library, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He has also engaged in public scholarship, writing for Time, The Guardian, and appearing in media discussions on Shakespearean and Renaissance topics.