Dr. George J. Becker (1908-1989) was an author, literary critic, and the chairman of the English department at Swarthmore College and then Western Washington University. His books included ''John Dos Passos'' (1974), ''Shakespeare's Histories'' (1977), ''Realism in Modern Literature'' (1980), ''D. H. Lawrence'' (1980), ''Master European Realists of the Nineteenth Century'' (1982) and ''James A. Michener'' (1983).