Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

JELLE ZEILINGA de BOER, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, emeritus, died July 23, 2016. He was 81. After receiving his B.S. and PhD from the University of Utrecht, he came to Wesleyan as a postdoctoral fellow in 1963. During his early years at Wesleyan he worked closely with Geology Professor Jim Balsley in the field of paleomagnetism. In 1977 he was named the George I. Seney Professor of Geology, and in 1984 he was named the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Sciences. In the 1970s he worked jointly as a professor at the University of Rhode Island and at the Marine Sciences Institute, where he was a PhD supervisor for Bob Ballard, who found the Titanic in 1985. Ballard later invited him to go diving in the submersible Alvin to collect rocks in the Cayman Trough. Originally interested in coming to the United States to study the Appalachian Mountains, his research eventually focused on the geotectonics of the Appalachians, Southeast Asia, and South and Central America. In 2015 he received the Joe Webb Peoples Award, presented annually by the Geological Society of Connecticut to someone who has contributed to the field of geology in Connecticut. The recipient of the Binswanger Prize for excellence in teaching, he was an outstanding teacher whose classes were very popular. He was known for making the field of Earth and Environmental Sciences attractive to students and for engendering enthusiasm for Geology, even among students and others who never thought that they would be interested in science. His love of nature and the earth sciences offered him adventure and extensive travels throughout the world. Among those who survive are his wife, Felicité, three children, and four grandchildren.

ELMER SWANSON, former head coach of cross-country and track and field, died Aug. 12, 2016, at age 92. An alumnus of the University of Michigan, where he competed as a catcher and first baseman for the baseball team and as a hurdler on the track team, his collegiate career was interrupted by service in the U.S. Marine Corps. After he was discharged, he also received a master’s degree from Michigan, where he won major titles, including the 1944 Big Ten hurdles and Purdue Relays. In 1946 he was drafted to play professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers and after three seasons began his illustrious coaching career as assistant track and field and cross-country coach at Michigan, helping them to win nine Big Ten championships. In 1963 he was named head coach of the track and cross-country teams at Wesleyan, where he guided the men’s and women’s teams to Little Three, NESCAC and New England championships. A leader in the Wesleyan’s Athletics Department in making the transition to the coaching of women as well as men, his extremely successful early women’s cross-country and track teams reflected his support for women athletes. He coached several All-Americans, Olympians, and nationally prominent runners. Named the 1993 NCAA District I Division III Cross Country Coach of the Year, he was also President of the New England Division III Track and Field Coaches Association, and the Connecticut Intercollegiate Conference. He was a field judge, referee, meet director, and member of executive committees for NCAA Division III. In July of 1993, he was named Professor Emeritus of Physical Education. He coached at Wesleyan for 30 years and at the college level for 50 years, which is unheard of in the profession. Inducted into the Portland, Wesleyan, and Middletown Sports Halls of Fame, he loved to golf and played until he was over 90. His wife of 61 years, Patricia Ann Swanson, predeceased him. Survivors include two children, two grandchildren, one great-grandson, and his extended family.

William J. Barber, Andrews Professor of Economics, Emeritus, died on Wednesday at the age of 91.

Bill arrived at Wesleyan in 1957 after receiving his B.A. from Harvard University and completing a Rhodes Scholarship and earning a B.A., M.A., and D. Phil. from Oxford University.  He taught at Wesleyan for 37 years before retiring in 1994.  Bill was actively engaged in the leadership of the University throughout his time here.  He was a founding member of the College of Social Studies, served as chair of the economics department and faculty secretary, and was appointed by the Board of Trustees as Acting President for three months in 1988 until President Chace assumed the office.

Bill was a productive scholar who published widely, including A History of Economic Thought, which after its release in 1967 became a standard in the field of economics for decades and was translated into seven languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Swedish and Farsi.  He published eleven other books as author or editor, and hundreds of articles on economic trends and developments in the United States, Africa, Britain, Europe, India, and other areas of Asia.  He was the recipient of many honors and awards throughout his distinguished career, including the George Webb-Medley Prize in Economics from Oxford in 1950 and a Ford Foundation Foreign Area Fellowship for study in Africa from 1955-57, and he was twice appointed a research associate of the Brookings Institution.  In 2002 he was honored as a Distinguished Fellow of the History of Economics Society and in 2005 received a Doctor of Letters (Hon.) from Wesleyan. Bill served as the American Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship Trust from 1970 to 1980; during this tenure he was instrumental in opening the Rhodes Scholarship to women and his service to the Trust was recognized by the British Government through his appointment as an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire.

Bill’s friend, Richard Miller, said: “Bill was a valued friend and colleague for over half a century. He provided guidance, counsel, and support to me and to many others. The economics department and the University have been immeasurably stronger for his contributions and his leadership.”

Born a Midwesterner and having survived World War II as an infantry soldier, Bill found in Wesleyan his intellectual and emotional home.  He loved the classroom as well as the intellectual freedom that the University offered.  He was devoted to his family and is survived by his wife, Sheila, who herself has long been an active member of the Wesleyan community, and his sons, Charles, John, and Tom, their wives, and six grandchildren.

Memorial contributions in Bill’s name may be made to Middlesex Hospital Hospice and Palliative Care at 28 Crescent Street, Middletown, CT 06457.  A memorial service on campus is planned. –By Joyce Jacobsen, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Andrews Professor of Economics

WILLIAM H. MacDERMOTT, 79, the former head football coach at Wesleyan, died May 5, 2016. An alumnus of Trinity College in Hartford, he began coaching in 1966 as an assistant coach at Wesleyan, where he went on to become head coach from 1971 to 1986. During his time at Wesleyan he amassed a 66-59-3 record, good for a .527 winning percentage. His 66 wins are third all-time among Wesleyan head football coaches. After leaving Wesleyan he coached other professional teams in California and in Canada. He particularly enjoyed coaching younger players as they transitioned from high school to college. His wife, Kathleen MacDermott, survives, as do four daughters and two grandchildren.