Tufts University - Jumbo Yearbook (Medford, MA)

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Dawson G. Fulton Dr. Dawson G. Fulton is presently in his twenty-second year as a member of the Tufts Department of Mathematics. However, the path he followed in coming to Tufts was not a direct one. After studying for his Bachelor’s Degree at Acadia University in Nova Scotia and his Masters at the University of Michigan, Dr. Fulton received his Ph.D. from Michigan in 1932. Always partial to a career in teaching, he found what he could among the scarce positions available during the Depression years, and taught high school in Nova Scotia for four years. Despite his degree in mathematics, he was required to teach every subject including Latin and Social Studies. Somewhat disappointed with this arrange¬ ment, he now says “That should have settled me for teaching.” On New Year’s Day of 1937, however, he began a teaching fellow¬ ship at the LIniversity of Michigan which brought him back to the college level, and to teaching mathematics exclusively. After two years at Armour Institute in Chicago and four years at Ohio Northern University, Dr. Fulton went to the Uni¬ versity of New Hampshire in 1943 for an unexpectedly short stay. In the heat of the war years, large numbers of the New Hampshire students were taken by the draft, leaving U.N.H. with a surplus of faculty. However, at the same time at Tufts College, the opposite problem existed—a large num¬ ber of Navy personnel were being trained through the College, and there was a need for additions to its faculty. As Dr. Fulton expresses it, “I was loaned by the University of New Hampshire to Tufts in 1944,” but somehow he never made it back. He then became an associate professor at Tufts in 1946 and achieved his full professorship in 1950. Those who have taken his courses have all recognized his unusually strong desire to encourage students to learn. He is patient with his students, for as he points out, “It takes a little living with a limit to get a notion of what it is.” His desire is evident in every class he teaches, in his obvious pleasure when a student has understood a new idea and in the pain he seems to feel when he is disappointed by the class. Both these feelings derive from his “thrill of learning and know¬ ing,” an experience which he is constantly trying to communicate to his students. Dr. h ulton is sensitive to that which is beautiful in mathematics. He sees it as both art and science. “It’s beauty lies in its logical structure,” he says, “One thing follows from the next and every new notion is first backed up by an old one well-known.” I hus included in his feeling that logical sequence is a profit to everyone who takes mathematics is his feeling for the aesthetic value of mathematical logic. Dr. Fulton’s sensitivity and his love of teaching both extend beyond the classroom. He is keenly aware of natural beauty. In his walk to Bromfield-Pearson every morning from his home on Professors Row, he has noticed that “every season of the year is different and pretty.” Of the Tufts campus, he says, “There is so much beauty. It is a privilege to live and work in the midst of it.” Another privilege he has had for the past twenty years has been that of leading the Cub Scout group at his church. Only this past fall, many years after his own son had graduated from this group, did he relinquish this opportunity to guide and teach. Dr. Fulton has said that he “couldn’t want for a better place to teach,” and that he will “come up to the time of retirement with a great many regrets in leaving Tufts.” Perhaps those who will most regret his departure are those students who first en¬ countered mathematics at Tufts in the person of Dr. h ulton, a teacher who tries especially hard to instill in the beginning college student, his own love for mathe¬ matics. 26

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John S. Gibson One of the most provocative professors on the Tufts campus is Dr. John Gibson of the Political Science Department. There is an aura about Dr. Gibson that is attractive to students, and his course on International Relations has become one of the most oppu- lar in the school, particularly for upper¬ classmen. Even though it is a fairly advanced political science course, many non-govern¬ ment majors have found it an accessible one in an exciting field. Professor Gibson received his Bachelor’s Degree from Oberlin College, his M.A. from Western Reserve in 1950 and his Ph.D. from the Columbia University School of Inter¬ national Law and Relations in 1956. He is now associate professor of political science, Director of the Lincoln-Filene Center and a teacher of elementary and junior high school students. He has written five books on vari¬ ous aspects of international relations and may be seen weekly on educational television for an hour and a half. His program is con¬ cerned with education and race relations in the classroom. It is actually a course which may be taken for credit at some sixty different colleges across the country. Dr. Gibson is also a television news commentator and a frequent guest lecturer at universities and national education meetings. Dr. Gibson is, obviously, an extraordi¬ narily busy man, but he feels that his most important job is to be a teacher, who is try¬ ing to do an effective and creative job with his students. As early as 1950, he decided he wanted to teach, and despite the increased administrative work he has been faced with, he always insists on teaching at least one course, because, as he says, “It keeps me up to date.’’ Professor Gibson’s particular interest is the role of ideology in world affairs and the role of public opinion as a determi¬ nant of foreign policy. Dr. Gibson also feels that he is obliged to write, do research and be directly involved with government, in order to properly teach international rela¬ tions. He feels, however, that the number of books he publishes is not important, but, rather, how the knowledge accumulated from his studies is incorporated into the lectures and talks he gives, how he is able to share this knowledge with his students. “I’m a conduit to knowledge,’’ he says. “I have to do research. I have to know what’s going on.” Dr. Gibson is well aware of the contro¬ versial nature of his field and often invites guest lecturers to speak with his classes. “In an area involved with values and atti¬ tudes,” he says, “I think there should be different opinions.” Authorities on different aspects of world affairs are able to discuss their views with his students, allowing them an opportunity to see an issue from many sides.