Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 26 text:

DEAN ROBERT EDWARD HILL was appointed Assistant Dean of Students at Brown in 1960. In this position he took on additional duties in the counscling of undergraduates, while retaining his posts as Manager of Men's Residences and supervisor of University rental properties. Joining the Brown administration in 1951 as assistant to the controller, he was named Assistant Manager of Men's Residences in 1954 and Manager in 1957 From 1958 to 1960 he also served as an assistant to Edward R. Durgin, Dean of Students. Entering Yale University in 1943, Mr. Hill received his commission in the Navy with his Bachelor of Arts degree, three years later. He sub sequently served with the Navy during World War Il and the Korean conflict as well as acting as a United Nations observer in Israel for six months in 1948. He is currently a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Personal interest, as well as a desire to aid the undergratute, motivate Mr. Hill to attend all major student activities. Speaking to an undergraduate he stated: CMy . . . only reason for being here is for you folks . . . If I can get to know people, then I can be more effective in my job. s AS DISCIPLINARIAN Dean Durgin is known by the greater part of the Brown student body. Most students see him only as frequently as they break the attendance rules. But this truant-officership is not the most im- portant of the Dean's functions; by virtue of his daily contact with the stu- dent body, and his membership on the Committee on Academic Standing, Dean Durgin acts as a link and a buffer between the University and the undergraduate body. As the University expands in size and complexity, and attendance regulations are loosened, this aspect of the Dean's responsibilities predominates all the more. Dean Durgin feels that his four vears at Brown as Professor of Naval Science, which immediately preceded his appointment as Dean of Students, afforded a valuable period of transition in which to adjust to the conditions of civilian and academic life. His duties as both naval officer and Dean of Students are essentially those of resolving personal, human problems. It is the human factor, with its variety and unpredictability, which Dean Durgin considers the most rewarding aspect of an often vexing position. Dean Dur- gin's activities at Brown followed a distinguished career in the regular navy. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academyv in 1922, he saw submarine duty on both coasts and served as assistant Naval attache to the American Em- bassy in Berlin from 1937 to 1940. During World War II he rose from commander of a destrover to become, in the later years of the war, member of the staff of the Commander-in-chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. He holds numerous militarv decorations of honor, and honorary degrees from Franklin and Marshall College and Brown. At present Dean Durgin is uncertain as to whether this will be his final yvear at Brown. Whatever the decision, he does not contemplate full retirement. And any spare time he may have will be easily occupied by his continued interest in the game of checkers. :

Page 25 text:

TO CO-ORDINATE public relations, alumni relations, and fund-raising ac- tivities; these are the primary responsibilities of a man who, although new at Brown, has already imbued it with a growing sense of his truly dynamic personal- ity. Armed with the firm friendship of President Keency and a belief in the greatness of Brown, past, present, and future, Dr. John Van G. Elmendorf suc- ceeded Thomas B. Appleget in the post of Vice-President last May. Dr. Elmendorf returns to this country from Mexico, where he has spent the last ten vears as linguist and college administrator. A native of South Orange, New Jersey, he re- ceived the A.B., M.A., and the Ph.D. degrees in comparative linguistics from the University of North Carolina. After serving with the 35th Infantry Division in Europe during the Second World War, he was named to head the Mexican- American Cultural Institute. In 1953 he joined the staff of Mexico City College, and in 1955 became Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty. Among the more tangible results of such a background is a house full of Mexican art works and relics, and a wealth of proverbs in several languages to suit every situation and purpose. CE.g.-El diablo es mas diablo por se viejo que por se diablo; The devil is more devilish for being old than for being the devil! Perhaps his most out- standing accomplishment since coming to Brown was Dr. Elmendorf's organiza- tion of last summer's Alumni Leadership Conference. This conference, whose purpose was to demonstrate to alumni those attributes of Brown which qualified it as a recipient of a Ford Foundation challenge gift, and to study the program which has been developed to meet that challenge, was adjudged by all to be a success. The result of President Keeney's appointment, then, is certainly a brighter future for Brown; day by day in the long corridors of University Hall the question, But whom should I see about this?, has been answered by Vice-President Elmendorf, of course!

Page 27 text:

PHYSICIST John A. Dillon, Jr. was the Assistant to the Dean for Freshmen when the Class of 1962 arrived at Brown. Dividing his time between cramped offices in Wil son Hall and U.H., Dean Dillon helped many Freshman realize and meet the responsibilities attending their status as undergraduates at Brown. One surprised Freshman was asked to which graduate school he planned to apply, and realized suddenly that the continuing task of evalua- tion and preparation for the Future had not ended with his addmission to Brown. Dean Dillon, who received his Ph.D. from Brown in 1954, was appointed Assistant Pro- Fessor of Physics that same year. Now an Associate Profes- sor, Dean Dillon is able to devote most of his time to re- search on metallic crystal surfaces, but only after taking a sabbatical leave in 1960-61 to catch up on research neces- sarily postponed in order to carry out his counseling duties. ROBERT O. SCHULZE, tcacher, researcher and admin- istrator, has become an institution at Brown since his arrival in 1955. The University recognized his talents and in 1959 he was appointed Assistant Dean of the College and made associate professor last year. His contact with the student body is through his various official capacities as well as through his B. D. H. notices and Chapel introductions. In the latter capacity Dean Schulze has excelled in the role of a sublime touche artist and establisher of a renaissance in hymns. Be- cause of his many official and unofficial duties, Dean Schulze has become our peripatetic administrator and has been known to fulfill his appointment obligations by walking with students to the Blue Room for a fresh supply of cigarettes before his next appointment, The more serious side of this humorous and energetic man reveals that at the end of his sophomore year at the University of Michigan he entered the army for two years of service. Upon his return to civilian life, he completed his studies in sociology, receiving his A.B. in 1947. After graduation, he found employment as assistant personnel manager of Sandia Laboratory, a division of the Los Alamos Atomic Laboratory in Albuquerque. Unsatisfied with the business world, he returned to Co- lumbia for his M.A. and finally received his Ph.D. from Mich- igan in 1956. In his present position Dean Schulze finds teach- ing and administrative work rewarding, but this makes research difficult. However, as he has pointed out, his administrative position might be a good place for research on graduate schools and undergraduate social structure.