Obituaries | Faculty

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.

WILLIAM WISTAR COMFORT II, Edward Burr Van Vleck Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus, died Nov. 28, 2016, at age 83. He received his B.A. from Haverford College, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington (Seattle), and was an expert on point-set topology, ultrafilters, set theory, and topological groups. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1967. Retiring in 2007, he had supervised 17 Ph.D. theses and three M.A. theses, and had been a key figure in the founding of the Math Workshop, a drop-in help center, which remains widely used today. He published three books, including Chain Conditions in Topology (Cambridge University Press, 1982), and well over 100 mathematical papers. Named an American Mathematical Society Fellow in the inaugural class of AMS Fellows in 2013, he was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics. “Wis was a Quaker, a musician who played the trombone in a Dixieland band, and a dignified gentleman who exuded collegiality,” wrote Joyce Jacobson, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He is survived by his daughter and his son. His wife, longtime Wesleyan staff member Mary Connie Comfort, passed away in May 2016.

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.