 |
WARD S. (SCHENK) CURRAN, PROFESSOR '57
I chose Trinity because I was granted an Illinois Scholarship which allowed me to come to the east coast for an undergraduate experience in a top quality liberal arts college.
There are so many of them that it is difficult to single out any one experience. I greatly enjoyed the camaraderie of those with whom I played football especially and the two undefeated untied seasons. However, I also enjoyed the academic atmosphere and the wonderful teachers I experienced. I made numerous life long friends. Finally, several faculty members (President Jacobs, G. Keith Funston, among others) took great pains to see that I received a grant from the Edward John Noble Foundation which funded my graduate education at Columbia University.
There is no question that Richard Scheuch tops the list of great professors. He mentored me, helped steer the grant to Columbia and led me into the college teaching and research profession.
The most memorable lesson was that of a dedicated faculty at Trinity who proved to be as helpful outside the classroom as inside the classroom. This is a lesson I have carried over into my own career.
Although I was a visiting professor at Yale for nearly 30 years, have taught at Wesleyan, and at the University of Connecticut School of Law, I remain dedicated to Trinity as a faculty member for 48 years (as of June 30, 2008). I have tried to give back in kind to the students as well as in money to the College, resources permitting.
There are so many of them. However, if I am to pick one it was Goethe's Faust in German in my advanced seminar on Goethe.
It is important to preserve this corner of higher education devoted to undergraduates. So many universities must serve two masters and it is the Ph.D. programs that take the lion's share of a faculty member's time and energy. Along the continuum of higher education research and publication are an important part of a faculty member's responsibilities, but when it comes to teaching the liberal arts college in general and Trinity in particular has only one primary mission, undergraduate education.
< Go back to featured stories.
|
