Sallyportal: Madly Blogging Reed

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Farewell, Prof. Thomas Gillcrist

We are sad to announce that Professor Emeritus Thomas Gillcrist [English and humanities 1962–2002] passed away this weekend.

Prof. Gillcrist taught at Reed for 40 years, arriving in 1962 after earning his B.A. from Duke University and an M.A. from Harvard University. Over the course of his career, he garnered many national honors and earned the admiration of his students and colleagues for his potent intellect and good nature.  

Drawn to Reed largely because of the humanities program, Gillcrist was known for his brilliant Hum 110 lectures, like this one on the Oresteia. He taught courses on William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, colonial and postcolonial novels, and on the Bloomsbury group. He is remembered for his infectious enthusiasm for his subjects, abiding influence on his students' lives, and love of fast cars. 

Shades of White

Prof. Geraldine Ondrizek's installation Courtesy of Geraldine Ondrizek

The discredited science of eugenics served as inspiration for Shades of White, an installation by Prof. Geraldine Ondrizek [art 1994–] created for the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. Prof. Ondrizek spent years researching the work of Alexandra Minna Stern, a medical historian at the University of Michigan and the author of Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America. 

Ondrizek’s investigation led to a visual reinterpretation of the “Gates Skin Color Charts” created by R. Ruggles Gates and used by eugenicists in the mid-20th century to assign an individual's racial category. Hand-dyed silk, displayed in 18-gauge steel boxes, approximates variations of skin pigmentation. “Her appropriation of this eugenic device to facilitate a discussion of human dignity is poignant and timely,” notes June Black, the museum’s associate curator.

RIP Professor Steve Arch

Steve Arch

Courtesy of Special Collections, Eric V. Hauser Memorial Library, Reed College.

With sadness we report that emeritus professor Stephen Arch [biology 1972-2012] passed away of a heart attack this past weekend. He was appointed the Laurens N. Ruben Professor of Biology in 1995, and was department chair in 1994–96.

Explaining in an interview why he had decided to retire last year, Steve said, “I didn’t want to die in my office, literally or intellectually.” The end came while vacationing in Colorado with his wife, Elizabeth, and friends. He was vital right up until the end, still shooting noon hoops weekly at the sports center. 

Daniel Walker ’07, who dodged his elbows more than a few times, remembered that Steve played basketball like he taught, “tough but fair.”