His 10,000th Student
In a recent, quiet announcement that finally settled on the first page of The Dartmouth, Herb West '22, popular Professor of Comparative Literature, let the Hanover environs know he had taught more than 10,000 students during his lengthy career at the College which began in 1922. The figure 10,000 is much more meaningful when one considers that it represents roughly one third of Dartmouth's living alumni.
The celebration of this event came quite appropriately on Herb West's 64th birthday, forty years after his arrival in Hanover as an instructor in English. Colin Harley '62 of Laurens, S. C. (in the above photo with Professor West) was designated the 10,000th student, and it was his good fortune to receive one of West's handsome watercolor paintings of a New England scene.
Popular with all degrees of Dartmouth men, Herb West's courses have always been well attended, lively, informal, and to the point. Ideas, including rebel thought, are his province. Herb West's diverse interests make him a most interesting teacher and person. He is a successful painter, author, and rare-book dealer in his spare time. He founded the "Friends of the Dartmouth Library" and thus has been instrumental in enriching Baker Library's collections over the years. This spring he will be on leave from the College, making his sixteenth visit to Europe for book collecting - and a wellearned respite from the classroom.
