Richard Stang, professor emeritus at Washington University, and a recognized expert on English literature, died Wednesday, Dec. 14 of pancreatic cancer. He was 86 and a resident of University City. Professor Stang was considered a leading authority on Ford Madox Ford, an English novelist, editor and literary critic in the early part of the 20th century.

Among his many grateful former students is Howard Schwartz, professor of English at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and author of numerous books on Jewish literature, poetry and folklore. “Richard [Stang] was a really wonderful teacher,” Schwartz said. “I learned more from him than from any other professor, and did independent work on Blake and Yeats while I was one of his students at Washington University. He was very demanding and had unusually high standards. Some of his students found him to be challenging, but all of us admired and appreciated what we learned from him.”

Professor Stang’s wife, Susan Hacker Stang, a professor of photography at Webster University, said that her husband had written numerous books and articles, “but what he really loved was to teach.” The couple married in 1992.

Professor Stang grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. Among his cousins was the late character actor Arnold Stang, who frequently appeared on popular radio and TV shows and films during the 1940s and 1950s. When Professor Stang was 18, he joined the U.S. Army and became an infantryman, fighting in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.

After his military service, Professor Stang enrolled at Columbia University, where he earned his undergraduate degree as well as master’s and doctoral degrees. His Ph.D. work was done under the supervision of the noted literary critic Lionel Trilling.

He taught at the University of Washington, City College of New York and Carleton College before joining the Washington University English Department in 1961. He became professor emeritus in 1997. While at Carleton, Professor Stang wrote “The Theory of the Novel in England: 1850-1870.”

His most recent scholarly work, published in 2002, was “Critical Essays: Ford Madox Ford.”

A graveside service was held last Sunday on Long Island, N.Y. In addition to his wife, survivors are a daughter, Elizabeth Anton of Chapel Hill, N.C.; two sons, David Stang of Clinton, N.J. and Sam Stang of Augusta, Mo.; and three grandchildren. His first wife, Sondra Stang, died in 1990.