231 Years for Dartmouth

SEVEN men, either professors who have taught in the undergraduate college or administrative officers whose responsibilities have brought them into close contact with alumni, are retiring this year. Among the seven, four of them themselves alumni, they have accumulated 231 years of service to Dartmouth. Since the ultimate measure of a teacher's work is influence on students, or of the administrator's the contribution to the mission of the institution, this year we have asked those who know best, students or colleagues, to muse on the manner of men these are.

George H. Colton '35 Vice President for Alumni Relations and DevelopmentAt Dartmouth since 1945

The distressing thing about George Colton's retirement is not fear that his successors will fail to carry out his, and now their, duties diligently and well, nor even the intimations of mortality that a classmate must feel at his departure. What is distressing is that the working Hanover scene will lose its most interesting complex personality.

I did not know George well in our undergraduate days; we marched then to different drummers. But slowly I came to know him as time passed; and I admired the consummate skill with which he made use of my small talents in the college's behalf. Far from resenting it, I enjoy being made use of in a good cause, and by a master of the art. Both conditions apply here.

What I most admire about George is his unerring sense of personal balance. He is no stranger to strong emotions, imperious drives, perhaps even keen disappointments. Yet he seems to face them all with an unfailing determination to wrest the last inch from these old adversaries.

Retirement will not faze George; indeed, I cannot think of anything that will. Instead, he will confront it with the cheerful skepticism that will ultimately make it do his bidding. I shall watch the contest with interest.

DERO A. SAUNDERS '35 Executive Editor, Forbes Classmate

How many times does Dartmouth have a vice president who has been, and is, a devotee of the Interfraternity Play Contest ? Again, how many Dartmouth vice presidents can pause long enough to have a good knock-down discussion about the works of Sean O'Casey? Here, then, are two reasons why the College is losing from the administration a rarer spirit.

HENRY B. WILLIAMS Professor Emeritus, Drama Colleague

. . . Promises he has kept and kept faithfully. Let me raise, however, a small banner for the promises others have made to George Colton, promises given because of who and what he is, promises that measure a man as surely as the ornaments of a successful career. Undoubtedly there are many, but let me recall one.

George's offer of help and heart, and his belief that some dreams are possible, somehow made my dreams possible. That possibility implied a promise by me, no less binding for being unspoken, a promise to expand and enrich what he had made possible, not only to repay his generosity of spirit, but also to attempt to carry some of that spirit, his spirit, into the world.

Since that time I do not begin or finish a piece of work without some thought to how well it stands in the face of that promise. . . .

DAVID E. BIRNEY '61 Actor Protégé

Roy P. ForsterEastman Professor of BiologyAt Dartmouth since 1938

There is something of the fineness of Roy Forster in so many scientists and clinicians, his "intellectual progeny": a dynamism, a manner of thought, a flash of induction, a gentle abrasion of criticism, a freshness from the clean winds and a magnificent youth. These things are in some way transduced in us, not quite so perfectly, but in bits and pieces. Reflection by his students will often bring to mind that essence of his intellect and sense of inquiry which is intrinsic to "good science" and which passed between him and his students, to his colleagues in research, to his peers, and among his friends, whether in Roy's lab and classroom, or even on the dock and at those inimitable high teas in Lewis at Mount Desert.

So he helped us on our way, giving always the best of himself and ever ready for the next intellectual challenge, be it student or goosefish. How lucky we are, for he is a man of ever renewing promise. For such, time is always filled and never truly passes.

Roy, I know where there's a good pair of skis. . . .

CHARLES E. WILDE JR. '40 Professor of Zoology University of Rhode Island

George F. Theriault '33Filene Professor of Human RelationsAt Dartmouth since 1936

To know George Theriault is to enjoy a powerful antidote to pessimism. In 1976, some 40 years since he first walked into the classroom in Thornton to deliver his first lecture - he was only three years out of Dartmouth then - George Theriault is as full of the excitement of learning and teaching as he was in the beginning.

I met him in 1947 when I was a freshman. From the first time I heard him, throughout my entire undergraduate career, and in the ensuing years, I can honestly say he is the most inspiring and remarkable professor I have ever known anywhere.

George has the marvelous ability to remain intellectually fertile and to stimulate in everyone a sense of the joy of life. He is, indeed, a rare man who has retained his vitality and sharpness and who, above all, transmits his understanding of and love for people.

WOODY KLEIN '51 Managing Editor IBM Magazine Think

Robert B. SimpsonProfessor of GeographyAt Dartmouth since 1965

Professor Simpson was in his first year at Dartmouth when, as supervisor of my senior thesis, he made valiant if futile efforts to inspire me to write clearly and concisely. Since then I have often benefited from his continuing interest in my education and professional development. In recent years our contact has been during my vacation visits to Hanover, when he has interrupted his own holidays to talk with me. On these occasions our conversations have ranged from the selection of a university for my graduate studies to his ideas on teaching geography. His advice, always useful and considerate, revealed his insight into human nature.

One measure of Robert Simpson's high standards in his main field of interest, remote sensing, is that the quality of his work and his students' has often exceeded that done at larger universities with more abundant resources. Even during his first year at Dartmouth, he seemed comfortable and at home in its physical and intellectual environments. Successful both as a teacher and earlier as a career army officer, he differs greatly from the stereotypes of either.

His professionalism has inspired many students to choose careers in remote sensing and geography. Through them his influence on these fields will continue for many years.

JAMES B. CAMPBELL JR. '66 Assistant Professor of Geography Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Richard E. Stoiber '32Hall Professor of MineralogyAt Dartmouth since 1935

One would think that 40 years after Professor Stoiber first led his classes to the rock outcrops of New Hampshire he would be winding down. Instead, this dynamo of a man seems to be just winding up. Dick's teaching is characterized by the good-natured chiding of a scientific disciplinarian, and he takes time each year to check on an ever-growing but closely knit clan of more than 300 Dartmouth professional geologists now scattered throughout the world. As a distinguished scientist who infectiously shares his research with the entire Earth Sciences Department, Dick has contributed importantly to our knowledge of ore deposits, strategic minerals, and volcanoes. Since 1965 he has capped off the yearly Dartmouth undergraduate geology programs with a spectacular field trip to Central America amidst one of the world's most dynamic volcanic fields. It is rumored some of the natives there call him "the little white-haired man who sets off volcanoes" because of his predictive skills.

We old guard appreciate the superb geologic background gained through our contacts with Dick, and we are ever mindful of the training he has since given our sons who followed in our footsteps.

JOHN MONTAGNE '42 Professor of Geology Montana State University

Adrian BouchardCollege PhotographerAt Dartmouth since 1938

For nearly 40 years Adrian Bouchard has been building a pictorial record of Dartmouth that has not only delighted his contemporaries but provided the grist for past and future historians seeking to reconstruct the life of this institution in the mid-20th century.

When he first came to Hanover, his duties were to assist Inn manager Ford Sayre '33 in developing a ski program and, in slack periods, to bellhop. Fatefully, he had brought with him a budding interest in photography which burgeoned rapidly, till he found himself undertaking special assignments for DOC, DCAC, and the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. So successful were his efforts that in 1939 he was appointed College Photographer, the first occupant of that office. Thus began a dazzling series of unsurpassable photographs of the College scene, many appearing on covers of this magazine and in its pages. In addition, he produced thousands of workaday renderings of people and events documenting daily life on campus, all meticulously classified and preserved. Surely no college has been better recorded pictorially.

Better known to some as a companion than as a photographer, he has drawn to himself a richly mixed bag of admirers who treasure his company on hunting and fishing expeditions or simply over coffee at Lou's. Happily, these associations will be unchanged with the disappearance of the by-line "Photo by Adrian Bouchard, College Photographer."

RICHARD W. MORIN '24 Librarian Emeritus

Richard W. Olmsted '32Director of PlanningAt Dartmouth since 1940

When I first met Dick Olmsted, on the construction of the Choate Road dormitories in 1957,I learned quickly that he was a stickler for detail and performance - always fair but insistent on the best, zeajously guarding the interest of the College.

As business manager and now director of planning, Dick has known every detail and facet of what was necessary to keep the physical plant operating. A sometime mechanical engineer, architect, lighting expert, builder, hotel manager, interior decorator, he applied an in-depth study and intensive research to whatever project he undertook.

His job has had no limitation in hours. I have had the dubious pleasure of spending many business days with Dick that started with a 6 a.m. meeting and ended up over a midnight supper.

His keen appreciation for the form and substance of architecture has left its mark very visibly and concretely on the Hanover Plain. For decades to come, all who visit Dartmouth will enjoy his accomplishments.

PHILLIP R. JACKSON '43 President Jackson Construction Company

IN ADDITION, five members of the Medical School faculty, an adjunct professor at the Thayer School, and four administrative officers retire this year. These men and women, with their titles and their tenure at the College, are: Dr. Agnes V. Bartlett, assistant professor of clinical surgery (anesthesiology), 16 years; Barbara B. Brown, chief of Baker Library's order section, 34 years; Robert G. Chaffee '36, director of the College Museum, 28 years; Dr. Walter B. Crandell '34, professor of surgery, 30 years; Dr. Reginald K. House, professor of clinical pathology, 37 years; Dr. William C. MacCarty Jr. '33, associate professor of clinical radiology, 34 years; Brownlee McKee, catalog entry specialist at Baker Library, 23 years; Harold N. Moorman, director of employment opportunities, 12 years; Paul E. Queneau, adjunct professor of engineering, 5 years; and Dr. Jackson W. Wright '33, associate professor of clinical medicine, 30 years.