Edward P.J. Corbett (October 29, 1919 – June 24, 1998) was an American rhetorician, educator, and scholarly author. Corbett chaired the 1970 Conference on College Composition and Communication, and was chair of the organization and a member of the National Council of Teachers of English Executive Committee in 1971. He was also chair of the Rhetoric Society of America from 1973 to 1977. From 1974 to 1979, he was editor of the journal College Composition and Communication. He is known for promoting classical rhetoric among composition scholars and teachers. Life Early Years and Discovery of Rhetoric Edward Patrick Joseph Corbett was born in Jamestown, North Dakota. His father worked for Northern Pacific Railroad, then later delivered milk in Los Angeles, California. When Corbett's parents separated, Corbett was sent to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to live with his father and paternal grandmother. His father worked briefly with the WPA during the Depression. In 1934, Corbett receive a scholarship to attend Marquette University High School, a Jesuit institution. There, Corbett learned Latin and Greek. Upon graduating in 1938, Corbett decided to become a priest and went to Venard College where he earned a degree in philosophy. Eventually Corbett decided not to become a priest and left the school in 1943. After a brief stint work at the Schlitz Brewing Company, Corbett joined the Marines. He trained as a radio technician and received training at Wright Junior College and Ward Island. In 1945, Corbett was sent to Majuro Island; he later was stationed at Pearl Harbor and Qingdao. After his service, Corbett went to the University of Chicago, where he got a master's degree in literature in 1948. While working at Creighton University (another Jesuit institution), Corbett chanced upon Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the library which stimulated Corbett's interest in rhetoric. Corbett went to the Jesuit Loyola University Chicago for his doctorate degree; his dissertation was "Hugh Blair: A Study of His Rhetorical Theory." In 1956, after completing his Ph.D., Corbett returned to Creighton University. The Revival of Rhetoric Corbett's classroom experience informed his research. Many of the examples of schemes and tropes he would later use in Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, his most famous textbook, were collected by students in Corbett's Creighton courses. Corbett also began attending the Conference on College Composition and Communication. After presenting on New Rhetorics at that conference ("The Usefulness of Classical Rhetoric"),