Obituaries | Faculty

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.

Jerry Gafio Watts died on November 16, 2015 in New Jersey. Born on May 17, 1953, in Washington, D.C. the third child of Maria Wright Watts and James S. Watts, Sr. who are now deceased. He is survived by his spouse, Traci C. West, sister Brenda M. Watts, brother, Robert A. Watts; nephews: James Watts III, Gregory Watts, Michael Watts, Shawn Sloan and Kyle Sloan, and a niece, Ravae M. Perkins; an aunt Evelyn Foster; and a host of beloved in-laws, cousins, students and former students, friends, and academic colleagues.

Watts graduated from DeMatha Catholic High School in Washington, D.C. (1971), earned a B.A. from Harvard University (1975), and his PhD in Political Science from Yale University (1985).

Watts served as an Assistant professor of Government and Afro-American Studies at Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT), an Associate and full professor of American Studies at Trinity College (Hartford, CT), a professor of English at CUNY Graduate Center (NY, NY). He was the author or several books and many articles, most notably, Heroism and the Black Intellectual: Reflections on Ralph Ellison, Politics, and Afro-American Intellectual Life (1994) and Amiri Baraka: The Politics and Art of a Black Intellectual (2001).

Watts was best known for his loving commitment to mentoring his students; kind and generous spirit to workers across class and racial/ethnic lines, scathing critiques of white supremacy in U.S. racial politics and academia, iconoclastic texts on politics and intellectuals; scandalous wit, humor, and storytelling; love for his family; and his insights about the political constraints, spiritual tortures, and inspirations of genius that can be embedded in the vocation of a political intellectual. He will be sorely missed by all who loved him and had the chance to learn from him.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday December 5, 2015 at 6:15 pm at the NY Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, New York, NY. A reception will follow. Everyone is invited to this time of storytelling and celebration of his life.

In lieu of flowers please send donations “In honor of Professor Jerry G. Watts” to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 40 Rector Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10006 or the United Negro College Fund, 1805 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001.

JOHN S. “JACK” McINTOSH, Foss Professor of Physics, Emeritus, died Dec. 13, 2015, at age 92. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Yale University, and came to Wesleyan in 1963. An expert on sauropod dinosaurs, as well as a physics professor and department chair at Wesleyan, he inspired countless students, colleagues, friends, and family. He is known for determining the correct skull of Apatosaurus at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, and in 2010 was honored by having a newly discovered species named Abydosaurus mcintoshii. He flew reconnaissance in World War II before becoming a theoretical nuclear physicist whose lifelong avocation was paleontology. Survivors include a sister-in-law, four nieces, four nephews, and numerous great-nieces and nephews.

WILLIAM FIRSHEIN, Daniel Ayres Professor of Biology, Emeritus, died Dec. 7, 2015. He was 85. After receiving his B.S. from Brooklyn College and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Rutgers University, he came to Wesleyan in 1958 and taught for 47 years. He was elected to Sigma Xi. An active scholar who was awarded research grants totaling more than $2 million over his career, he investigated the molecular biology of DNA replication cell division in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli and their plasmids. In his most recent book, The Infectious Microbe, published in January 2014, he discussed the relationship between humans and viruses and illustrated how pathogens are spread. This book was based on a very popular general education course that he taught for decades. He was a founding member of the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department, and served as chair of MB&B for seven years, and as chair of Biology for three years. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Ph.D. programs in Biology and MB&B. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry has awarded the William Firshein Prize in his honor each year to the graduating student who has contributed the most to the interests and character of the MB&B department. His friend, Anthony Infante, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Emeritus, said, “He was a true friend to his colleagues and always available for effective useful advice and guidance to the young faculty.” His wife, Anna, and five children survive.

JON K. BARLOW, Professor of Music, Emeritus, died Dec. 15, 2015. He was 73. After receiving his B.A. and M.A. from Cornell University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he joined the faculty at Wesleyan and taught in the music department for 34 years. Grounded in Western music history, he expanded his horizons geographically and conceptually, constantly creating innovative courses that attracted serious students. Many of his students went on to become established composers, performers, musicologists, and ethnomusicologists. He was very proud of the interdisciplinary courses he taught, including a course on the metaphysics of baseball. He also co-taught courses with Joe Reed and Bob Rosenbaum, focusing on the films of John Ford, the novels of William Faulkner, and the music of Charles Ives. These courses reflected not only his love of teaching, but also his belief that his best teaching occurred while he was learning and that Wesleyan was a special place to have offered him the opportunity to learn alongside and from his own students. According to his friend and colleague, Mark Slobin, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music, “He was a brilliant and original pianist who collaborated with eminent composers and performers, mostly at Wesleyan, and did individualistic scholarship on figures ranging from the medieval Guido d’Arezzo to the New Englander Charles Ives.” He maintained an active program of research in retirement. Survivors include his wife, Muriel Barlow, two children, a foster daughter, and two grandchildren.

Carl E. Schorske, who taught at Wesleyan from 1946–1960 before moving to UC Berkley and eventually Princeton, died Sept. 13, 2015. He was 100 years old. A scholar whose essays centered on Vienna at the turn of the 20th century as the site of the origin of modernist thinking, he returned to Wesleyan in the 1970s as a visitor at the Center for Humanities. He won a Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1981 for his collection of essays, Fin de Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture (1980), and was the recipient of a MacArthur fellowship, or “genius grants.”

Other books include German Social Democracy, 1905–1917 (1955) and Thinking With History: Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (1998).

Wesleyan president Michael S. Roth ’78 recalls that he had signed up for “Carl’s Vienna seminar” in the spring semester of his first year at Wesleyan.

“Carl was an extraordinary teacher—erudite, humane and sensitive to the different ways that students learned,” writes Roth. “He was an activist, a scholar and a pedagogue. These aspects of his personality all seemed to work together in his intellectual practice as a scholar-teacher. When he was teaching a subject he was deeply engaged with as a scholar, he said he ‘was really cooking with gas.’ He took culture seriously, and he took enormous pleasure in it, too. That seriousness and capacity for pleasure was something that his students were so fortunate to share in.”

Among those who survive are a daughter, three sons, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son, Stephen, in 2013, and his wife of more than 70 years, Elizabeth Rorke Schorske, died last year.