University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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FACULTY The Faculty, as the guiding element in our search for knowledge, has made ever-advancing steps in the educational process in conjunction with the physical growth of the University. In the past months we were sorry to see some members of the faculty leave us and eager to welcome the new. Perhaps the controversial issue of faculty salary raises and the enthusiastic part the students and administration played in securing these illustrate our estimation and appreciation of our instructors and professors. In our theme of progress at the University of Massachusetts, we find many of the faculty who are undertaking special projects and research in addition to their teaching duties. The faculty, in the capacity of student advisors, teachers and in their independent endeavors have shown extreme individual and collective ability of which we may well be proud. With the ever-increasing emphasis in our country on the need for better science education in our universities and colleges, the University of Massachu- setts has presented an educational program in this field which is noteworthy. Many graduates of our University have gone on to achieve prominent positions in science and have been recogn ized and honored in Who ' s Who in American Men of Science. We have many noted men of science on the University faculty, such as Dr. Ritchie of the chemistry department, who is doing independent research in the field of high polymer chemistry. Founded as a landgrant college in 1863, for the purpose of education in agriculture, U. Mass. has progressed from this to an institution including many schools and colleges devoted to education in a wide range of fields. With the reahzation of the need for progress in science in the nation and its educational institutions, there has also been a recognition of the need for an emphasis on the aesthetic, cultural, and intellectual aspects of hberal arts ' education. The institu- tions of higher learning in the country have at times been accused of what is popularly termed intellectual apathy. In the face of such challenges to greater intellectual achievement, the colleges and universities have provided increasingly strong programs in liberal arts education in addition to that of science. With the emphasis on the intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic aspects of a hberal arts education, the University ' s various schools and colleges have endeav- ored to keep pace with this advancement. One of these that has shown recent progress and development has been the English Department which is now headed by Dr. Vernon Helming, who is acting head during the sabbatical leave of Dr. Maxwell Goldberg. Dr. Goldberg, who has taken a year-long sabbatical in order to write a book on The Humanities in Action for Prentice-Hall, is but one example of the progress in individual pursuit which our English Department has made. Well-known in literary circles, as well as in the University and Amherst worlds, is Dr. Frank Prentice Rand, the author of Amherst: A Village Landmark. He has also accomplished further achievement in poetry and art. The University may be proud to have in its midst the recent addition of Associate Professor Joseph Langland, who came to us from the University of Wyoming. As a representative modem poet, Professor Langland has made a 26

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(Ba ' aemav January 18, 1960 TO THE ADMINISTRATION, STAFF, FACULTY, AND STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ?IASSACHUSETTS ; Once again I welcome the opportunity to extend the f reetnngs of the Commonwealth to you all and to acknowledge your various achievements at the University during? the course of the past year. It is noteworthy that you have shared commend- ably, and with devotion, in helping maintain the high standards and enviable reputation of our State University. Your cooperation and loyalty in this respect merits every appreciation. The past year has witnessed a major change in the cliiTiate for public higher education. The people of the Commonwealth have recognized the importance of a first-rate university and I loiow that we are on the way toward achieving that goal. Through your continued dedication and concern our State University always and in every way will continue its fine record of service and accomplishment on behalf of the Commonwealth and its people. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors, jSincerely yours, FURCOLO F i ms 25

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recording of his own verse for the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. for its prominent collection. Also on sabbatical leave during 1959-60 has been Professor Copeland, who is in England. His main field of endeavor has been the editing of The Corres- pondenbe of Edmund Burke to be pybHshed by the Cambridge University Press in Cambridge, England. This, indeed, is a notable pursuit and a credit to the University. Also new to the English Department is Miss Audrey Duckert, who is con- tinuing her research and definition-writing for the third edition of Webster ' s New International Dictionary to be pubhshed in 1961 by the G. and C. Merriam Company. Little known are the pursuits of these and many other members of the faculty. Their professional activities and scope which extend outside of teaching and administration are not realized and are not given substantial credit. The list is unlimited and many more may be mentioned briefly here with their publica- tions and research: Associate Professor David Clark and his study of the de- velopment of W. B. Yeats as a dramatist; Assistant Professor Arnold Silver and his editing of the correspondences of Samuel Butler as well as preparations for a critical study of Butler ' s novels; Mr. Raymond Gozzi and his psychological studies in David Henry Thoreau; Dr. Sidney Kaplan and his studies of Herman Melville; and Mr. Paul Lauter and his work on the second section of his book on rhetoric in American literature. These are but a few of the many professional pursuits. Not to be neglected is the new Massachusetts Review. Published for the first time this fall, there are many contributions included in it by members of the faculty. On the editorial board are such present and past members of the English Department as Dr. Sidney Kaplan, former Professor Frederick S. Troy, Assistant Professor Jules Chametzky and Associate Professor David Clark. Original con- tributions may be attributed to Dr. G. Stanley Koehler, who had four poems included in the Review. This publication is but another indication of the pursuits which individual faculty members have been making in order to further themselves as well as to display greater initiative and quality in their performances as educators. The creative talent, profound knowledge, and ability of the various members of the English Department has been of great service to the University in the classroom. Every student in the freshman and sophomore English classes as well as the present 187 English majors have benefited intellectually from such capable professorship. The quality of English majors who have gone on to graduate school, teaching and various literary pursuits testifies to the high caliber of undergraduate education received. Instruction in the Humanities is undergoing never-ending changes such as the addition of new courses and requirements for a degree. This active and intelligent search for improvement is furthering the intellectual standing of the University and its graduates. We may look with pride to the past as well as the future at our achievement in the pursuit of learning in the Humanities. Our past year under the guidance of the faculty in each school and college within the university has produced a balance in the pursuit of learning. The University of Massachusetts is certainly worthy of eminence in the high position it has taken in every field of education from science to the Humanities. We have certainly accomplished a noteworthy equihbrium between the intellectual and the theoretical in higher education. 27