Valerie Krips joined the English faculty in 1991 and in 1995 was named director of the children’s literature program. She helped revamp the program, which is now flourishing. Valerie retired in 2006. She writes on children's literature and literary theory. Her book, The Presence of the Past: Memory, Heritage and Childhood in Postwar Britain (New York: Garland, 2000), combines children's literature with cultural studies, her other major area of interest.