FAVORITE MEMORIES OF WILLIAMS

My best memories involve Geology Professor Bill Fox. Bill was incredibly instrumental in supporting my interest in marine geology. He was involved in helping me with my junior summer research project, funded by the NSF and the precursor to the Keck Research Program. He also arranged for four of us to help collect data on a Smithsonian/US Navy oceanographic cruise in the Mediterranean. It was the first time I had been out of the country. It sparked my love of travel to this day and solidified my desire to be an oceanographer, which I became.

WILLIAMS CLUBS / ACTIVITIES

Purple Key
College Committee on Academic Program

CURRENT INTERESTS, PASSIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS

After teaching college students for 38 years, I find it a pleasant challenge to be tutoring elementary-age Somalian children. Trish and I are also involved in resettling Afghan refugees in our area and volunteering to help the homeless and near-homeless. We work through our local food bank, community homeless shelter, and other services for the disadvantaged in Carlisle.
We love to travel. Our most recent trips were to Israel and SW US National Parks (we are close to seeing them all). Next up is Greece, then Alaska, followed by Tanzania in 2022.

LIFE SINCE GRADUATION

I came to Williams wanting to study geology. That was a rarity in 1968. My first semester was pretty rough, but after that things seemed to fall into place, and I enjoyed every minute of our four years. Besides, I met my wife on a blind date set up by Jim Dutt and his then girlfriend at Skidmore. Going directly to graduate school from Williams was a shock (Williamstown to LA???). It seemed intimidating at the time because I knew I had had many fewer geology courses than my graduate colleagues. Nonetheless, I discovered that while Williams may have been lacking in preparing me for all the geologic knowledge I would need, I had learned how to learn for myself, do productive research, and write. Virtually all my grad colleagues had to do a master’s thesis to learn how to do the research. I did not, so I finished in five years instead of seven. My career would have been quite different If Williams had not prepared me in that way.

I was especially grateful for the longtime friends I made at Williams. While lots of things have fallen by the wayside, including high school friendships, the Bascom House crew has stayed in touch over the years. The second year we were in England, Will and Carol Thorn were assigned to the American embassy in London. We still talk about how we got together several times in London and Norwich, including a Guy Fawkes celebration. We saw the Thorns more in England then we did in Pa., when we were only 2+ hours apart. Two summers ago, several of us got together for a mini-reunion at our lake house. It was one of the best times. I look back at the camaraderie we had at Bascom House and am glad the fraternity system had dissolved before we arrived. I have been on many campuses in my teaching career and seen what a negative influence some fraternities can be on the social life. By going to a residential house system, Williams was able to keep all the positive things about fraternal living and minimize the negatives. I appreciated that greatly.