University history Professor Charles Royster had what doctors called “something like a stroke” around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday while he was teaching a history of military science class in Himes Hall.
Royster was in intensive care at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital on Wednesday night.
History department Chair Paul Paskoff said Royster was lecturing when he began to feel dizzy, so his graduate assistant got him a chair to sit down. A faculty member called an ambulance soon after.
Paskoff said Royster’s neurosurgeon characterized his condition as “guarded,” a step better than critical.
But fellow Professor William Cooper — who described Royster, 60, as a unique man who enjoyed fine cigars and the opera — said he visited Royster in the hospital Wednesday morning, and nurses told him they were pleased with his condition.
Widely published in Revolutionary and Civil War history, Cooper said Royster has a “magnificent reputation” among historians and war experts because he is so well-versed in several different areas.
“[Royster] is very much an individual,” Cooper said. “He goes to the opera in Houston regularly and San Francisco and New York from time to time.”
Royster is one of only two Boyd professors — the University’s highest professorial distinction — in the history department and has been teaching at the University for about 25 years.
Royster remains on sick leave while in the hospital.
History professor Stanley Hilton will take over Royster’s classes.