Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

WILLIAM J. BARBER

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

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

WILLIAM H. MACDERMOTT

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.

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DAVID KEW PhD’64

DAVID KEW PhD’64, a biologist and high school teacher, died Sept. 8, 2016, at age 62. He received an S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976 and a PhD from Wesleyan in 1984. As a biologist and high school teacher, he spent 32 years in the Worcester, Mass., area, but maintained close ties to his Cape Cod roots. His life obsession was genealogy, and more recent pursuits include woodworking and birding, especially as a volunteer at the Audubon Reserve in Worcester. He is survived by three children, three siblings, an aunt and uncle, two former spouses, his girlfriend, and numerous nieces and nephews.

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MARY CONNIE L. COMFORT MAT’70

MARY CONNIE L. COMFORT MAT’70, an administrator at Wesleyan and a tireless community volunteer, died May 21, 2016. She was 81. After studying drama at the University of Washington, from which she received her BA in 1953, she worked for a local television station. In 1957 she married William Wistar Comfort II, professor of mathematics, emeritus, at Wesleyan, and they moved to Massachusetts, where her husband was an instructor at Harvard University. While in Cambridge she worked as a research assistant on an early study about birth control pills, and she also worked as a social secretary to a local celebrity. When the family moved to Rochester, N.Y., she participated as director and actor in a community theater and established a traveling Punch and Judy puppet show. Upon moving to Amherst, Mass., she entered graduate school in theater at Smith College and worked part-time writing theater reviews for the local newspaper. Through subsequent years and subsequent travels, she taught English literature and drama. Most notably, she was part of a feminist collective, establishing the first family planning clinic in Middletown and serving as its first director. She also was involved in other community organizations and was active in Quaker meetings. She served for many years as a board member of the American Friends Service Committee of the New England Regional Meeting and as a member of the Permanent Board of the New England Yearly Meeting. For two decades she served as a career counselor to a wide range of Wesleyan undergraduates, specializing in pre-medical advising. In her last years with Wesleyan she directed the Honors College. Upon moving to the shoreline, she started two film series at libraries there, as well as an active Theater Club. Survivors include her husband, William Wistar Comfort II [Note: Professor Comfort passed away on Nov. 28, 2016.], two children, four grandchildren, and three siblings.

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S. STOWELL SYMMES MAT’58

STOWELL SYMMES MAT’58, an economic educator at the Joint Council on Economic Education, died Feb. 25, 2016, at age 82. He received his BA with honors in economics from Amherst College in 1956 and an MAT from Wesleyan in 1958. After teaching high school in New Jersey, he began a long career as an economic educator at the Joint Council on Economic Education in New York City, where he headed a national program to improve teaching of economics for grades K-12. He authored several books. In retirement, he was an active volunteer in his community. Among those who survive are his wife, Janice Symmes, four children, 13 grandchildren, and five siblings.

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HAROLD L. HODGKINSON MAT’55

HAROLD L. HODGKINSON MAT’55, a lecturer, writer, and analyst of demographics and education, whose findings influenced social policy, died Mar. 4, 2016. He was 85. After receiving his BA from the University of Minnesota, he received a master’s from Wesleyan and then a doctorate in education from Harvard University. Before his involvement with demographics, he was dean of the school of education at Simmons College, dean of Bard College, associate professor and project director at the University of California, Berkeley, a director of the National Institute of Education, a director of the American Management Association, and director or board member of numerous other corporations and professional groups, as well as a consultant. He was elected president of the American Association of Higher Education in 1971. The author of 12 books, three of which won national awards, he also authored hundreds of articles and was editor of several journals. He received 12 honorary degrees. His work with demographics consumed more than 25 years. He wanted educators and employers to realize that the increasingly diverse population by race and nationality of baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 necessitated structural changes throughout educational institutions and the workplace. In his capacity as director of the Center for Demographic Policy at the Institute for Educational Leadership he was commissioned by several state agencies to produce 28 state profiles and numerous profiles of metropolitan areas. He is survived by his wife, Virginia Ann Hodgkinson; three daughters from his previous marriage; two daughters from his wife’s previous marriage; nine grandchildren; his sister; and his former wife, Barbara Hodgkinson.

Categories Obituaries | 1990-1999Posted on

KITARA C. BINGHAM ’98

KITARA C. BINGHAM, 38, a clinical social worker, died Aug. 9, 2015. She received her MSW degree and license in clinical social work from Fordham University School of Social Work. While living in New York, she worked at Incarcerated Mothers, Harlem Children’s Zone, and Sister’s Place. After moving to Newport, Del., in 2012, she began working for the Homeless Planning Council before becoming program director of LifeLines Independent Living Program at West End Neighborhood House. Survivors include her daughter; her mother; her maternal grandmother; five aunts and uncles; a very special friend, Dan; a childhood friend, Sherp; and many cousins and friends.

Categories Obituaries | 1980-1989Posted on

ANNA DEWDNEY ’87

ANNA DEWDNEY, a children’s author, illustrator, and educator, died Sept. 3, 2016, after a 15-month battle with brain cancer. She was 50. After receiving her degree in art, she worked at several jobs, including teaching art and history at a boarding school. Her dream to become a full-time author and illustrator began with her artwork for The Peppermint Race (Henry Holt, 1994). She went on to illustrate a number of other children’s chapter books in the 1990s. In 2005, Viking published the first picture book she both wrote and illustrated, Llama, Llama Red Pajama. That was the genesis of a series that now contains more than 10 titles and has sold more than 10 million copies combined. An animated series is due out in 2017. She made many school, library, and event appearances, where she spoke passionately about her work and children’s literacy. She published a 2013 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal in which she wrote that “empathy is as important as literacy” when introducing children to reading. By reading with a child, “we are teaching that child to be human,” and the act enables the child “to see the world through someone else’s eyes.” She is survived by her partner, Reed Duncan, and two grown daughters.

Categories Obituaries | 1980-1989Posted on

NICHOLAS W. WALTNER ’86

NICHOLAS W. WALTNER, an investment banker, died Aug. 6, 2016, as a result of complications from an auto accident. He was 52. At Wesleyan he majored in German and Physics. After graduation he started a successful career in investment banking, working for Paine Webber before attending the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. After business school he joined Salomon Brothers, where he spent much of his career. Later, he also worked for Citigroup and Banc of America Securities. His career took him around the world and he lived in New York, Zurich, and Tokyo. He was fluent in German, Japanese, and Spanish. An avid endurance athlete, he competed in ultra-endurance events, biked alone across the U.S., and raced in multiple triathlons. In 2002 he and his family moved back to Seattle, where he led several real estate and investment ventures, studied for his degree in computational linguistics at the University of Washington, and was active in the Catholic Church. Among those who survive are his wife, Silvia Coxe Waltner; three children, including Olivia Waltner ’20; his brother; and a large extended family.

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SARAH RACHEL NAZIMOVA-BAUM ’86

SARAH RACHEL NAZIMOVA-BAUM, 52, an art therapist, interfaith hospital chaplain, and spiritual director, died Mar. 2, 2016. An art history major who was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, she combined her interests in psychology and art by earning a master’s degree in art therapy at New York University. She practiced at North Central Bronx Hospital and at other programs in New York, often focusing on geriatric populations. She then became interested in spirituality and studied chaplaincy. She interned as an interfaith hospital chaplain before running the New York Intern Program, an AmeriCorps service program in Harlem. There she supervised and mentored recent college graduates in a program combining social services, spiritual growth, and intentional community. Following that, at the time she was diagnosed with the cancer to which she later succumbed, she was counseling people experiencing life crises for LifeNet, at the Mental Health Association of New York City. She earned a second master’s, in spiritual direction, at the General Theological Seminary, and became a spiritual director. She co-founded the Spiritual Arts Practice, in which people were invited to make art with prayer and to pray through making art. In addition to her husband, Mark Nazimova, her son survives, as do her mother, her brother, her in-laws, and a very large extended family.