Obituaries | Faculty

David Schorr, professor of art, died on June 16, at the age of 71. Schorr received his BA from Brown University, and his BFA and MFA from Yale University. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1971, and has taught a wide range of courses including printmaking, drawing, graphic design, and calligraphy. He received the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2015. Shorr’s career as an artist and designer was also broad-ranging. He provided illustrations for numerous books (including Parallel Lives, by Professor of English emerita Phyllis Rose, and Distinguished Professor of Literary Translation Norman Shapiro’s translations of La Fontaine’s fables)as well as hundreds of literary portraits for The New Republic, and had an active practice as a painter and printmaker. “David was an incomparable raconteur who loved bringing people together around art and conversation,” said his colleague Jeffrey Schiff, professor of art. “He was a dedicated teacher, who cared deeply about his students and the fullness of the educational enterprise, and did much to shape the studio arts at Wesleyan.” Schorr is survived by his niece, Sarah Schorr ’99; his nephew, Max ’03; and his sister-in-law.

Donald B. Meyer, professor of history emeritus, passed away May 27. He was 94. Meyer served in the U.S. Army from 1943-1946 and received his BA from the University of Chicago in 1947. He earned his master’s and doctorate from Harvard University, where he taught for two years. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1967 from UCLA. Meyer was a social and intellectual historian who published three books and numerous articles over his career. “He was an expert in offering a vigorous challenge to prevailing views, especially about sectors of our society that figured much too little in our history,” says colleague Nat Greene. Meyer also served as one of the founding organizers of Wesleyan’s American Studies program. The Meyer Prize was established in 1991 to recognize deserving history majors for honors theses in American history. Meyer is survived by his wife, Jean Meyer; his sister; his children and their spouses and partners; and his five grandchildren. 

Peter M. Frenzel, Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Studies Emeritus, passed away on May 20, at the age of 82. Frenzel arrived at Wesleyan in 1966 after receiving his BA from Yale, MA from Middlebury, and PhD from the University of Michigan. He served on virtually every major committee and in administrative roles, including associate provost, dean of arts and humanities, and chair of German Studies. He was a carillonneur, overseeing Wesleyan’s carillon bells, and played the glockenspiel with the pep band during football games. In retirement, Frenzel served on the advisory board for the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty and was editor of the Center’s newsletter. Frenzel was one of the foremost experts on the German Minnesang tradition of lyric- and song-writing. “Peter loved music in its more modern expression, as well, often sitting down at his piano for an impromptu riff or chasing the perfect Wagner Ring around the globe, visiting what seems like every operatic venue from New York to Sydney,” says Herb Arnold, professor of German and letters emeritus. Frenzel is survived by his wife, Laurie Neville Frenzel; his daughter and her partner; two grandchildren; and his brother. 

Robert A. Rosenbaum, University Professor of Mathematics and the Sciences, Emeritus, died Dec. 3, 2017, at the age of 102. He received his AB from Yale in 1936, and his PhD in mathematics from Yale in 1947. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1953 and taught mathematics there for 42 years until he retired in 1995. He was a member of the “Mystic Nine”, a group of faculty in the early 1960s who were instrumental in developing Wesleyan’s graduate programs. He became dean of sciences in 1963, provost in 1965, the first-ever vice president of academic affairs and provost in 1967, and chancellor in 1970, after a brief term as acting president between Edwin Etherington and Colin Campbell. He returned to full-time teaching in 1973. The founder of PIMMS (Project to Increase Mastery in Mathematics and Science) in 1979, he served as its director through 1994. He received many awards, including Wesleyan’s Baldwin Medal in 1985. The mayor of Middletown declared Nov. 10, 2004, as Robert A. Rosenbaum Day, and he was honored with a second Robert A. Rosenbaum Day on his 100th birthday in 2015. Rosenbaum was chosen to help carry the Olympic torch on its path to Atlanta in 1996, and the Rosenbaum Squash Center in the Freeman Athletic Center is named in his honor, as he was an age-group national champion several times, until he ran out of age groups to win after he hit 85. Willie Kerr, Wesleyan Provost at the time, wrote about his colleague in 1984: “His stability in unsteady times, his disinterestedness in factional times, his clarity of vision in beclouded times, his grace in ungracious times, helped bring Wesleyan through, not just intact, but enhanced.” Survivors include his three sons, Robert, Joseph, and David Rosenbaum; five natural grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; seven natural great-grandchildren; and two step-grandchildren.

RICHARD P. WILBUR, the eminent poet and former Olin Professor of English, died Oct. 14, 2017, at age 96. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1957 and taught until 1977. During his two decades at Wesleyan he received the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for Things of This World, was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and founded the renowned Wesleyan University Press poetry series. Wesleyan awarded him an honorary degree in 1977. During his long and distinguished career as a poet and translator, he was appointed as national poet laureate, received two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Medal of the Arts, two Guggenheim fellowships, the T.S. Eliot Award, and the Frost Medal, among others. He was known for his classical rhyme and meter, as well as for his translations of Molière, Racine, Baudelaire, and Joseph Brodsky. He also wrote most of the lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s opera Candide. Born in New York City, he graduated from high school in Montclair, N.J., and received a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in 1942, before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He served in Africa, southern France, and Italy during World War II, an experience that he said led him to “versify in earnest.” After graduating from Harvard University with a master’s degree in 1947, he worked for many years as an English professor while continuing to write, translate, and publish. In 1961, he was named chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, a position he held for more than 30 years. His wife, Charlotte Ward Wilbur, died in 2007. Four children, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren survive.

KIT REED, 85, author and resident writer at Wesleyan, died Sept. 24, 2017. A graduate of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, she worked as a reporter for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and for the New Haven (Conn.) Register, where she twice was named New England Newspaperwoman of the Year. She moved to Middletown in 1960 when her husband, Joe Reed, professor of English and of American studies, emeritus, took a position at Wesleyan. In 1964 she became a visiting professor of English, then an adjunct professor of English in 1987, and resident writer in 2008. A former Guggenheim fellow, she was the first American recipient of an international literary grant from the Abraham Woursell Foundation. Her work has been nominated for the Locus Award, the Campbell Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Tiptree Award; she was twice nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award. Instrumental in the construction of the Creative Writing Program, she helped to attract notable writers from across the country, both within the program and yearly at the Wesleyan Writers Conference. Many notable writers came through her care, and many remained lifelong friends. A prolific novelist and short-story writer, she wrote 39 books of fiction. She is known not only for her science fiction, but also for her fantasy writing and paranormal and mystery genres. Her last short story, “Disturbance in the Produce Aisle” was published in Asimov’s Magazine the month she died. In addition to her husband, Joe Reed, three children and their families survive.

DANIEL CHERUBIN, Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian, died Sept. 13, 2017. He was 52. An alumnus of Bard College, he held an MS in library science from Columbia University and an MA in media studies from New School University. He came to Wesleyan in July 2016 after a nationwide search. He brought more than 20 years of experience in library and information services, most recently as chief librarian and associate dean at Hunter College in New York, where he oversaw four libraries. During his time at Wesleyan, he worked on initiatives to re-envision library spaces and to reorganize the library to meet the 21^st century needs of students and faculty, as well as engaging people in person and via social media to heighten awareness about academic libraries and what they offer. He was a huge proponent of inclusiveness and diversity, and he enjoyed conversing with many students on Wesleyan’s campus to learn about their ideas and concerns, and how the library could help address them. Most recently, he published a chapter titled “Mentoring Across Boundaries and Across Borders: Looking Outside Your Comfort Zone (and Maybe Your Country!)” in the book Librarian As Mentor. Survivors include his mother, Margaret; his partner, Albert; his sister; and his brother.

ARTHUR R. UPGREN, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, and the former director of the Van Vleck Observatory, passed away Jan. 21, 2017, a month before his 84^th birthday. He received his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University before joining Wesleyan as an assistant professor in 1966. He was director of the Van Vleck Observatory from 1973 to 1993 and held his endowed chair from 1982 until his retirement in 2000. An author or co-author of 285 publications in the astronomical literature, his research interests were in the areas of parallax (distance measurement) of stars and galactic structure. For several decades, he directed an NSF-funded study that made use of the 20-inch Clark refractor on the Wesleyan campus to establish the first rung on the ladder of distances in the Universe. His friend, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Emeritus, Jim Gutmann, said, “Art was an avid reader, loved classical music and foreign travel, and could be counted on to provide explanations of many matters astrometric and meteorological.” An active member of the International Dark-Sky Association, he was a tireless advocate for intelligent lighting on the Wesleyan campus. He is survived by his wife, Joan, his daughter and her husband, and his two grandchildren.

SHEILA GAUDON, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, emerita, passed away Feb. 19, 2017, at the age of 83. Born in Liverpool, England, she received a B.A. from Manchester University, and a Docteur de l’Université des Sciences humaines de Strasbourg. She joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1970 and taught French literature courses in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, serving as director of the Wesleyan Program in Paris several times and as department chair. An active scholar whose research focused on Victor Hugo, she worked extensively with the National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS) in Paris over many years, including a three-year appointment as “Chargée de recherches” to prepare the first volumes of Victor Hugo’s family correspondence. In 1993 she retired to Paris, speaking at colloquia around Europe on subjects concerning Hugo. She will be remembered by her colleagues for the steady leadership she provided to the department. Sheila’s friend and colleague, Antonio Gonzalez, Professor of Spanish, said, “Those who were close to her will remember her as well as a remarkable cook, an unsurpassed lover of the stage, and a caring and loyal friend.” She is survived by her husband, Jean Gaudon, who lives in Paris.