Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

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RUSSELL R. WILLIAMS Russell Williams is a name that will be remembered at Haverford for a number of reasons. His ac- tivities extended far and above the call of academic duty. Faculty square dancers will remember his calling at their gatherings, and students wall recall his weekly visits to the dining hall and his enthusiastic participation at their picnics. On top of this he was a brilliant scientist, administrator, teacher and advisor. Dr. Williams came to Haver- ford from Notre Dame already a well-known radiation chemist. He had published research papers of significance in his field and had written an important book on nu- clear chemistry. While at Haver- ford he co-authored a now widely used text. Principles of Physical Chemistry. He also continued to carry on important research here despite the lack of elaborate facili- ties. As chairman of the chemistrv department, his most notable achievement was the assembly of some excellent teaching chemists who have made their subject a pro- gressive and exciting discipline for so many of us. Perhaps his most attractive char- acteristic was his fatherlv pride in his students. No one can easily forget or fail to appreciate his warm smile when Colin MacKay. a former student of Dr. Williams, confessed that Russell Williams had been responsible for interest- ing him in chemistry. Those seeking his advice could be sure that he would lend a pa- tient ear and that his approach would be one intended to aid and advise rather than to sell or push. Many students are grateful for his steadv and mature counseling on personal problems, as well as plans for graduate school. The students and the college as a whole benefited sreatlv from the presence of Russell Williams. His sudden and untimely death was a great loss, for such ability, energy and dedication in one man is unique. Haverford has indeed been fortunate for his short tenure here. Page 17

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MARCEL GUTWIRTH Officially Professor of Ro- mance Languages and head of the French Department. Marcel Gul- wirth has taught both French and Humanities 21-22. A command of French remains a sign of culture, and an understanding of literature remains in this scientific age es- sential to the well educated man; by leading his students to these faculties Professor Gutwirth serves most sijrnificantlv to fulfill Haver- ford ' s ideals of liberal education. The coldness and reserve with which he first meets the student may be due to his European back- ground or his desire to maintain academic distance and discipline. But through his thin smile and clipped phrases there clearlv ap- pears, in his careful analvsis of literature, a man committed warm- ly and deeply to the humanities and ultimately to man. His in- terpretations of literature have inevitaldy seemed so convincing- ly right as to admit of little con- tradiction. The students in his seminars come away with a know- ledge of the material discussed but thev also gain the immeasur- ably more valuable insight into the philosophy which motivates Professor Gutwirths intellect. Fundamental in his approach to every work of art is a deep un- derstanding and sympathy with the human condition, and the stu- dent nia learn something of this whether the work is Proust. Mo- liere. Dostoievsky or the Book of Job. . ' V . . In teaching for the first time this y«ar a course in the Enlight- enment, he has been able to in- dulge his interest in both litera- ture and ])liilosoph . The course bridges the provincial barriers of language and academic discipline and as an ambitious innovation indicates Professor Gutwirth s committment to his role as a teacher. This function he has carried out of the classroom and into his home, where he has con- ducted informal discussions of literature with interested students in the best tradition of the salon. It is the willingness to teach those students who wish to learn, evi- dent in these evenings of Human- ities Zero , which has made his classes sought after by the know- ing, and made him one of the most highly respected members of the faculty. Page 16

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WALLACE M. MacCAFFREY w Wallace T. MacCaffrey has the knowledge and dedication of a master teacher, but his distinguish- ing excellence is that he has the master teacher ' s technique as well. His heavy assignments, his high standards, and his wonderfully disciplined lectures are all impor- tant parts of this technique: more important is the way in which he runs a discussion class. With Mac- Caflfrev, one learns for keeps. The secret I or rather the result of the secret — one learns the secret only by becoming another master teacher ) is Professor MacCaffrey ' s consummate ability to manipulate a problem. Passing it around the room, occasionally dropping it in the middle of the table, MacCaf- frey skillfully controls its slow and laborious demise. Make no mis- take, MacCaffrey knows how he wants the problem solved — he also wants his students to do the solv- ing. It may take them three hours of twisted analogies and non sequi- turs to construct what MacCaffrey could have put together in fifteen minutes, but at the end of class, each student carefully wraps up the result and takes it home, a per- manent possession because he helped to make it. Page 18