Dale Cleaver joined the faculty of the university’s Department of Art in 1958. The first trained art historian in the department, he served as the undesignated subhead for that wing of the department and as interim head of the department (1976–77). He earned a doctorate from the University of Chicago.
His honors include a Fulbright Grant to Belgium (1952–53); two Alumni Outstanding Teacher Awards (1966 and 1981); University Macebearer (1976–77); and appointment as the first Lindsey Young Professor in Art History in 1980, a title he held until his retirement in 1988. His national reputation stems largely from his book Art, An Introduction (1966), which was in its fifth edition at the time of his retirement. Articles in both European and American journals and exhibit catalogs are additional representations of his scholarly activity.
Regionally recognized as a landscape and seascape painter, his works have been exhibited by many museums and galleries, including the Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga and the Ewing Gallery of Art. He was a skilled sailor, an avid mountain climber, and an expert downhill skier. His paintings of seascapes and landscapes often include sunlit natural bridges and rock-colliding surf. His intellectual contributions to the life of the university have been recognized by placement of a plaque in his honor on a faculty study.