In Memoriam

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Harold Andrews
Date: March 13, 2015

I am saddened to inform you that Harold Andrews, professor emeritus of geosciences, passed away on February 22 at the age of 72. He taught at Wellesley from 1971 until his retirement in 2006.

He was a beloved teacher, winning the College’s coveted Pinanski Prize for Teaching in 2005. In the citation given for that award, one student called Professor Andrews “the model liberal arts science teacher”—someone who blended ancient Chinese art, Shakespeare, and global plate tectonics to instill in his students a curiosity about the natural world. As a teacher, Professor Andrews made science accessible to generations of students. Renowned for his kindness and generosity to students and colleagues alike, he was also an avid unicyclist, and would often be seen riding around campus.

His major field of interest was invertebrate paleontology, and specifically in interpreting the function of fossil features that have no modern counterparts for comparative study. He also studied conodonts, or the microscopic, tooth-like skeletal remains of extinct organisms now known to be related to the earliest vertebrates.

Professor Andrews was dedicated to serving Wellesley, and he did so in a myriad of ways—as chair of his department, as faculty director of the Science Center, as a member and chair of the Board of Admission, and on many other faculty and trustee committees. His legacy lives on today in the Harold E. Andrews Award in Recognition of Service to the Geosciences Department, which is awarded each year to an outstanding senior.

Professor Andrews earned a B.A. from the College of Wooster, a master’s degree from the University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

His former colleagues are invited to a gathering, which will be held today, March 13, from 4:30- 6 p.m. in the Sage Lounge of the Science Center, to celebrate Professor Andrews' career at Wellesley.

I extend my condolences to Professor Andrews’ family, friends, and colleagues.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Owen Jander
Date: February 17, 2015

I was saddened to learn that Owen Jander, the Catherine Mills Davis Professor Emeritus of Music, died on January 21 at the age of 84. He taught in the music department at Wellesley from 1960 until his retirement in 1992.

A much-beloved teacher, he was the first to hold the Catherine Mills Davis professorship. He was perhaps best known for the introductory course Music 100, and was famous among his students for his class experiment using dripping molasses to illustrate the rhythmic flows of a musical melisma. He was an exceptional teacher, and won the College’s Pinanski Prize for Teaching in 1991. At the time, his award citation read, “He puts so much life and energy into his teaching that his audience is irresistibly drawn into his love for music.”

Professor Jander began his career studying 17th Century Italian music, although the focus of his research shifted in the mid-1970s to the study of music history and period instruments. He was widely published and received various prestigious academic awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In addition to his teaching and scholarly pursuits, Professor Jander will long be remembered for spearheading the project that brought a 17th Century Fisk organ to Houghton Chapel in 1981. In fact, at the time of the organ’s inauguration, Professor Jander inscribed our motto, Non ministrari sed ministrare, on the hand bar of the manual bellows of the instrument.

Prior to Wellesley, Professor Jander taught at Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois, at the Friends’ School in Ramallah, Jordan, and as a teaching fellow in the Harvard Music Department. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University.

A memorial service will be held for Professor Jander at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 15 in Houghton Chapel.

I extend my condolences to Professor Jander’s family, friends, and colleagues.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Miriam Berlin
Date: February 25, 2015

I am saddened to inform you that Mimi Berlin, who was a longtime lecturer of history at Wellesley, died on January 1 at the age of 88. She taught at the College from 1958 to 1975.

Professor Berlin specialized in Russian history, with a focus on the Jacobin tradition in the Russian Revolutionary movement from 1860 to 1880. During her time at Wellesley, she taught courses in Russian, European, and Middle Eastern history. She published widely, and her many articles and reviews included, in 1983, “Visit to Pasternak” in American Scholar, in which she described her 1957 visit with author Boris Pasternak in Russia—a visit that ultimately helped to facilitate the publication of Dr. Zhivago later that year.

Professor Berlin earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College, and she was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Russian history from Harvard University. After leaving Wellesley, she went on to teach at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and Harvard Extension School, among other schools and organizations.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Center for Government and International Studies South Building, Tsai Auditorium, 1730 Cambridge Street in Cambridge.

I extend my condolences to Professor Berlin’s family, friends, and colleagues.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Philip Finkelpearl
Date: December 10, 2014

I am saddened to inform you that Phil Finkelpearl, the Anne Pierce Rogers Professor Emeritus of English, passed away on November 30 at the age of 89. He taught at the College from 1980 until his retirement in 1996.

Professor Finkelpearl came to Wellesley having already established himself as a prominent scholar of 17th Century dramatic literature. On campus, he quickly became a beloved member of the faculty and the go-to person for all things Shakespearean. Colleagues and former students described him as an effective teacher not only because he knew and loved Shakespeare so well, but because he knew and loved his students, too. He made rigorous demands of them, inspiring them to bring to their study of Shakespeare and all his subjects an enthusiasm that matched his own. He also served as an unofficial advisor to the Shakespeare Society, and was involved in many of its productions.

Just five years after arriving at Wellesley, Professor Finkelpearl won the coveted Pinanski Prize for Teaching. His award citation said, “He notices and is concerned if even one student is missing in a lecture class of 60.” And, his “respect and solicitude for his students is legendary.” In 1986, he was named the holder of the first Anne Pierce Rogers Professorship.

Professor Finkelpearl was the author of two important and influential books—Court and Country Politics in the Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher (1990), and John Marston of the Middle Temple: An Elizabethan Dramatist in His Social Setting (1969).

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and master’s and PhD degrees from Harvard University. Prior to Wellesley, he taught at Brandeis University, Vassar College, Lehman College (CUNY), and UMass Boston. But at Wellesley, he found his academic home.

I extend my condolences to Professor Finkelpearl’s family, friends, and colleagues at this time.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Carol Ann Paul
Date: October 29, 2014

I am saddened to inform you that Carol Ann Paul, senior instructor of science laboratory emerita and a founding member of our neuroscience program, passed away on October 23 at the age of 66. She taught at the College from 1983 until 2010.

Professor Paul taught first in Biological Sciences and later in the Neuroscience Program. Noted by colleagues as the driving force behind the successful laboratory experiences in the core neuroscience courses, she was much beloved by faculty, staff, and students alike.

Professor Paul will be remembered for her commitment to her students and her dedication to creating meaningful laboratory experiences for them—her labs were quite popular among students. She constantly brought in new ideas. For instance, she created a magnetic resonance imaging laboratory with faculty in the chemistry department that was incorporated into an advanced neuroscience course in the spring of 2010. She also organized a laboratory experience with computer science faculty, in which students use a tabletop computer interface to explore bioinformatics.

Her love of neuroscience could be seen in the breadth of academic endeavors that she pursued. She was the editor of Discovering Neurons: The Experimental Basis of Neuroscience, which was published in 1997 and co-edited by Barb Beltz, the Allene Lummis Russell Professor of Neuroscience, and Joanne Berger-Sweeney ’79, former Wellesley faculty member and Associate Dean of the College. Professor Paul also published many peer-reviewed papers, and she was the principal investigator on an impressive number of grants, including those from the National Science Foundation for neuroscience curriculum development. She also presented her curriculum ideas at workshops for AAC&U’s Project Kaleidoscope and Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Professor Paul earned a B.A. from Keele University in England, and a master’s degree in epidemiology from Boston University School of Public Health. Prior to coming to Wellesley in 1983, she was a lecturer at Williams College and a lab instructor at Harvard University.

Given her many teaching and scholarly contributions to the field, Professor Paul was selected to be awarded the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience Lifetime Achievement Award at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in November. Because of her failing health, her colleagues chose to share this news with her—which was intended to be a surprise—a few weeks before her death, so that she would know how much her contributions to neuroscience were admired and appreciated on a national level.

There will be a memorial service for Professor Paul held in the Houghton Chapel at 11 a.m. on November 1.

I extend my condolences to Professor Paul’s family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Koko Nishino ’45
Date: May 21, 2014

I am saddened to inform you that Emiko “Koko” Ishiguro Nishino ’45, a longtime, beloved staff member in the Office for Resources, passed away on April 23. She was 90 years old. An obituary was printed in yesterday’s Boston Globe.

Koko held several various positions in Resources, including development fund officer and the director of planned giving, from 1976 until her retirement in 1992. In typical Wellesley fashion, Koko retired without retiring, and stayed on as a consultant until 2006. When I arrived at the College in 2007, Koko was still very much a legend.

In addition to raising money for the College and keeping alumnae connected to their alma mater, she served, with quiet persistence, numerous additional roles on campus. She advocated for students with physical challenges and helped arrange for their special needs by making herself available whenever necessary. She was a campus role model for Wellesley’s Asian and Asian-American students, and served as advisor for many years to the Wellesley Asian Association (now the Asian Student Union). Long before she came to work at Wellesley, she was active as a volunteer, including work with her class, club, the Alumnae Board, the Students’ Aid Society, and many others.

In 1993, she received Wellesley’s Severinghaus Alumna Award for ministry, and in 1995, she was honored with the Syrena Stackpole Award for her dedicated service to the College.

A private burial was held on May 3. There will be a public memorial service for her on June 14 at 10 a.m. in the Houghton Memorial Chapel. Donations in Koko’s memory may be made to Wellesley College.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Blythe McVicker Clinchy
Date: May 5, 2014

I am saddened to inform you that Blythe McVicker Clinchy, professor emerita of psychology and former department chair, passed away on April 22. She taught at the College from 1965 until her retirement in 2000. She was 83 years old. Professor Clinchy was a much-beloved teacher and mentor, whose courses were sought out by many. She was inspirational and iconoclastic, empowering students and challenging them to think creatively.

Professor Clinchy’s teaching and research focused on developmental psychology, and part of her interest included studying the different learning styles of women and men. In her influential book Women’s Ways of Knowing, which she co-authored in 1986 with Mary F. Belenky, Nancy R. Goldberger, and Jill M. Tarule, she sought to answer the question, “Why do so many women doubt their intellectual competence?” That book received a 1987 Distinguished Publication Award from the Association of Women in Psychology and The Boston Globe called it “the sleeper of the decade.” She was also co-editor, with the same colleagues, of Knowledge, Difference and Power, published in 1996, and, with Julie Norem, the Margaret Hamm Professor of Psychology, she co-edited The Gender and Psychology Reader in 1998.

Throughout her long career at Wellesley, Professor Clinchy chaired the Psychology Department, was a Research Fellow at the Wellesley Centers for Women, served as the inaugural Class of 1949 Professor of Ethics, as Psychological Director of the Child Study Center, and as a Faculty Fellow at the Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center.

A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Professor Clinchy received a BA from Smith College, an MA from the New School for Social Research, and a PhD in Human Development from Harvard University.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Molly Campbell ’60
Date: January 29, 2014

I am saddened to inform you that Molly Sanderson Campbell ’60, former Dean of Students from 1984 to 1998 and a former faculty member in the Mathematics Department, passed away on January 28, her 75th birthday.

A beloved Dean, Molly championed multiculturalism at Wellesley, helping the College establish our nationally-recognized multifaith model and guiding Wellesley to become a more global institution. She once said, “There should be no Wendy Wellesley. We are all Wellesley women, and the variety of Wellesley women is infinite. We want to be aware and supportive of everyone in the community.”

She was also committed to “leveling the playing field” for incoming Wellesley students. Upon her retirement in 1998 she said, “I hope that every young woman we accept, we also provide [her] with the opportunity to really realize her potential.”

Molly was the first Dean of Students to live on campus, wanting to be more easily accessible and available to students. During her 20 years as a senior administrator at Wellesley, she sat on many campus committees, including serving as co-chair for the committee that initiated the dual degree program between Wellesley and MIT.

As a student at Wellesley, Molly was a math major and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Outside of the classroom, her memorable achievements included convincing the administration to extend the Saturday night curfew for seniors to 2 a.m. She returned to Wellesley in 1978 as Class Dean for the Class of 1980 and as a faculty member in the math department, where she taught until 1985. In her career at Wellesley, she also served as Class Dean for the Class of 1984, Assistant to the President under former Wellesley President Nan Keohane ’61, and Director of the Affirmative Action Program. In 1984, she became Dean of Students, a position she held until her retirement in 1998.

When Molly retired from Wellesley, she did not go without appropriate fanfare. May 6, 1998, was named Molly Campbell Day—a day when the entire College community honored the former dean for her years of service to Wellesley.

A dedicated volunteer for Wellesley, Molly received the Alumnae Association’s Syrena Stackpole Award in 2010, on the occasion of her 50th Reunion, to recognize her longstanding commitment to Wellesley, including as an Annual Giving representative, Reunion committee member, board member of the Stone Center, and a lifetime member and former steering committee member of the Friends of the Library. Outside of Wellesley, she served as a board member of the Charles River School and the Friends of Hopi Foundation, and she was active with the Eliot Church of South Natick.

Molly’s approach to retirement can be described best in her own words from the Class of 1960’s 50th Reunion Record Book, “At this point in my life, while I enjoy traveling and new adventures, I most value friends, family, and trying to do a bit of good in this world.”

Wellesley College is a stronger institution because of Molly’s insightful, lifelong commitment and leadership. I extend my condolences to her family and many friends and colleagues.

Molly’s family has indicated that they will announce a memorial service at a later date.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Anne DeCoursey Clapp
Date: January 10, 2014

I am saddened to inform you that Anne DeCoursey Clapp, professor emerita of art, passed away on December 25 at the age of 85. She taught in the Art Department at Wellesley from 1968 until her retirement in 1999.

At Wellesley, Professor Clapp was known for her rigorous and inspiring classes. She held the first full-time appointment in Asian art, and she developed a curriculum covering Chinese, Japanese, and Indian art, with seminars in Chinese painting.

Professor Clapp was recognized internationally as a scholar of Ming Dynasty painting (1368- 1644). She was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Delegation to the People’s Republic of China in 1977, and was among the first American scholars to visit the country after Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Professor Clapp won two National Endowment for the Humanities awards for her research (1974 and 1981), and authored three books: Wen Cheng-Ming: The Ming Artist and Antiquity (1975); The Painting of T’ang Yin (1991); and, in 2012, Commemorative Landscape Painting in China.

In addition to her scholarship and teaching, Professor Clapp served a term as Chair of the Art Department, and participated in many committees and programs at the College where her judgment and her deep knowledge of Asian culture made significant contributions. Professor Clapp received a B.A. degree from Smith College and a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. Before coming to Wellesley, she was a curator of Asian art at the Fogg Museum at Harvard.

A memorial service is being planned for April 5 in Cambridge. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to FRAXA Research Foundation, finding a cure for Fragile X.

I extend my condolences to Professor Clapp’s family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time.  

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: In Memoriam: Gabriel Lovett
Date: January 24, 2014

I am saddened to inform you that Gabriel Lovett, professor emeritus of Spanish, passed away on December 22, 2013 at the age of 92. He taught in the Spanish Department from 1969 until his retirement in 1987.

Professor Lovett’s students will remember him as brilliant and funny, and as a teacher who cared deeply about their progress in class. “Don Gabriel,” as his colleagues knew him, was a renowned scholar of 19th century Spanish literature and history. He published extensively on Romantic Spain, Duque de Rivas, and Napoleon in Spain. Professor Lovett served as chair of the Spanish Department for 10 years, and he was a regular member of the College’s International Board of Admission.

Before coming to Wellesley in 1969, Professor Lovett taught Spanish at New York University for more than 20 years, including five years in Madrid, Spain, when he served as director of NYU Abroad.

Professor Lovett was born in Berlin, Germany, and came to the U.S. in 1939 after he and his family escaped from Nazi Germany. He went on to study at City College of New York and earned his MA and PhD degrees from NYU.

I extend my condolences to Professor Lovett’s family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time. 

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: Sad News About Professor Emeritus Ed Stettner
Date: March 12, 2013

I am saddened to inform you that Professor Edward Stettner, Ralph Emerson and Alice Freeman Palmer Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former Associate Dean of the College, died on Sunday evening at the age of 73. Ed Stettner taught at Wellesley from 1966 until his retirement in 2008.

During his 42-year tenure, Professor Stettner gave tirelessly of his time to the College. He was a wise and well-respected leader and mentor, known for his gentle patience. He served as Associate Dean of the College for a total of eight years during the 1970s and 80s, stepping in as Acting Dean twice during the 1980s, and was department chair of the Political Science Department. He was also active in and directed the Wellesley in Washington internship program, a program that remains vital today.

Professor Stettner’s teaching focused on political theory—from introductory courses to advanced seminars. In 1997, he was awarded the Anna and Samuel Pinanski Teaching Prize, recognizing his excellence in and out of the classroom. As one student nominator wrote at the time, “He gives thoughtful and constructive advice and serves as a stabilizing force in the lives of students.”

Professor Stettner’s research focused on American political thought. His major publication, Shaping Modern Liberalism: Herbert Croly and Progressive Thought (1993), was hailed by the American Historical Review as “a concise, intelligent, and highly readable study.” He also wrote on issues including political obligation and vigilantism, and edited a symposium on European politics held at Wellesley in 1969.

After his retirement in 2008, Professor Stettner remained active in teaching, service, and in the life of the College community, serving on the Wellesley College Faculty Emeriti Steering Committee. He was also a member of the Mount Ida College Board of Trustees, and taught courses with the Sherborn Lifetime Learning program.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 16 at St. Andrews Church in Wellesley. I wish to extend my condolences to Professor Stettner’s family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: Sad News
Date: March 5, 2013

I am saddened to inform you that Professor Emerita Barbara Brenzel died on Sunday in Toronto, where she lived. Professor Brenzel taught in the Education Department from 1978 until her retirement in 2004. She also served as chair of that department for much of her tenure at Wellesley.

Professor Brenzel’s teaching focused on the history of education and the history of childhood. Her signature course, Youth and Student Activism—which she created and taught for many years—enabled her to share her passion for activism with students.

A respected historian, she was the author of Daughters of the State: A Social Portrait of the First Reform School for Girls in North America, 1856-1905 (MIT Press, 1983) and a number of other publications about dependent children and families. Her much cited book described the difficulties of so-called “wayward” girls, and documented how they were treated. Professor Brenzel was a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she received her BA and MA degrees, and of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she received her EdD.

She will be remembered for her wit, scholarship, and great insight into the history of the lives of girls in the 19th century, whose stories she brought vividly to life. Professor Brenzel also loved the arts, especially painting, and it is both touching and sad that she died so soon after her close friend and colleague James Wilson Rayen.

My thoughts are with Professor Brenzel’s family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: Sad News
Date: February 26, 2013

I am saddened to inform you that Professor Emeritus James Wilson Rayen died this morning. He was 77 years old. Professor Rayen was the Elizabeth Christy Kopf Professor of Art and he taught at Wellesley from 1961 until his retirement in 2003.

Beloved by generations of Wellesley students and the faculty as a whole, Professor Rayen was instrumental in helping turn the College’s studio art courses into a full major in the 1970s. He will be remembered as a kind, patient, and gracious person, who was devoted to teaching students at all levels.

He was known for his New England landscapes and continued to paint and exhibit his work regularly after he retired. Most recently, As I See It, a collection of his recent paintings, was on display at Norumbega Point at Weston, where he lived. This past fall, his work was featured in an exhibit called The Balance Between at Fountain Street Fine Art in Framingham. His work is expected to be on display in June at the Wellesley Free Library.

Professor Rayen received his BA, BFA, and MFA degrees from Yale University, where he studied with Josef Albers and Rico Lebrun. He also studied in Rome in 1959-60 under an Italian government grant in painting.

He will be cremated in the coming days, and details about a memorial service will be forthcoming

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: Professor Emeritus Tony Martin
Date: January 18, 2013

I have just learned that Professor Emeritus Tony Martin died on Thursday in Trinidad, where he lived. Professor Martin was a founding member of the Africana Studies Department, where he taught from 1973 until his retirement in 2007.

Professor Martin was a popular teacher and an energetic and widely published scholar, having authored, compiled, or edited 14 books, published many articles and reviews, and received numerous academic and community awards, including a grant from the American Philosophical Society. He was a sought-after lecturer and keynote speaker around the world.

Before coming to Wellesley, Professor Martin taught at the University of Michigan-Flint, and, in Trinidad, at Cipriani Labour College and St. Mary’s College. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota, Brandeis University, Brown University, Colorado College, and he was an honorary research fellow at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad.

My thoughts are with Professor Martin’s family and friends during this difficult time.

To: The Wellesley College Community
From: H. Kim Bottomly
Subject: Sad News
Date: July 5, 2012

I am saddened to let you know that Professor Emerita Miranda Marvin died earlier this week in her home. Miranda was a longtime member of the Wellesley faculty, having taught here since 1969 in the art and classics departments. She retired in 2010.

Miranda was much beloved by generations of Wellesley women, and was known for attracting students to art history and the study of the classical world through her mesmerizing and memorable lectures. She gave selflessly of her time on behalf of the College—speaking to alumnae at club events around the country and always drawing a crowd during her lectures at Reunion Weekend. In 2000, the Alumnae Association recognized Miranda with its Faculty Service Award.

Miranda Marvin was also a notable scholar. Her 2008 book, The Language of the Muses: The Dialogue Between Roman and Greek Sculpture, was hailed as an important landmark in her field. An alumna of Bryn Mawr and Harvard, she served twice—in 1985 and 2007—as the Robert Sterling Clark Visiting Professor of Art History at the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art, and was a Resident in Classical Studies and later a Trustee of the American Academy in Rome.

We will miss this esteemed and generous colleague, and I hope you will join me in keeping her family and close friends in your thoughts.

The family has indicated that there are no plans for a funeral service at this time.