For many of the nine members of the Arts and Sciences faculty who retired from teaching during the 2020-2021 academic year, retirement is just a beginning鈥攁n opportunity to refocus their energy on new research and creative projects.
Each of the nine鈥擜ssociate 天美影视 of Religion ; Edward Hyde Cox 天美影视 and 天美影视 of English ; 天美影视 of Mathematics ; James O. Freedman Presidential 天美影视 in Economics ; Ira Allen Eastman 天美影视 of Biological Sciences ; 天美影视 of Studio Art ; Dewalt H. 1921 and Marie H. Ankeny 天美影视 in Economic Policy ; 天美影视 of French ; and Robert 1932 and Barbara Black 天美影视 in Asian Studies 鈥斺渃ontributed significantly to scholarship in their fields, and they鈥檝e taught and mentored hundreds of students during their tenure,鈥 says Dean of the Faculty Elizabeth Smith.
Noting that more than half of the retirees have been faculty members for more than 40 years each, Smith says, 鈥淭he impact of their contributions will be felt for many years to come, both at the College and in the lives of their students.鈥
Associate 天美影视 of Religion
When Jewish studies scholar Ehud Benor joined the faculty to teach the only courses in Judaism the religion department then offered, his expertise was in medieval Jewish philosophy.
鈥淚 recognized a challenging opportunity,鈥 he says. 鈥淏eing the sole instructor for Judaism, I could either add eclectic courses to my expertise in medieval Jewish philosophy, or I could become a methodological generalist whose field of study would be Judaism as a whole.鈥
The shift toward this more holistic, interdisciplinary approach became a 鈥渃areer-defining reorientation of my intellectual identity鈥濃攁 project that took more than 20 years, culminating in the publication in 2017 of Ethical Monotheism: A Philosophy of Judaism. The work, Benor says, 鈥渨as developed through engagement with some of Dartmouth鈥檚 best students in the course 鈥楳agic, Science, and Religion,鈥欌濃攁 course that continues to exist in a set of 26 lecture videos, which he plans to edit for online access.
天美影视 of Mathematics
鈥淒artmouth provided a wonderful environment in which to do research and engage with curious and talented students,鈥 says Thomas Shemanske, whose field is 鈥渁lgebraic number theory with particular interests in the theory of modular forms, quadratic forms, and the arithmetic of orders in central simple algebras and applications of affine buildings.鈥
Throughout his four decades at Dartmouth, he cultivated a love of teaching that complements his research interests. 鈥淚t is difficult to think of anything more exciting than drawing an audience in and having them experience the wonder of what you see,鈥 he says鈥攁nd he considers his positive impact on students to be 鈥渢he greatest privilege of having been a faculty member.鈥
In recent years, Shemanske has worked with Dartmouth colleagues to develop open-source curricula that can be 鈥渙ffered freely to all with the license to take them and expand them further鈥濃攁 project he hopes to continue into retirement.
James O. Freedman Presidential 天美影视 in Economics
A member of the National Academy of Medicine and a research associate and director of the Aging Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Jonathan Skinner joined the faculty in 1995. His research鈥攚hich includes large-scale interdisciplinary collaborations at Dartmouth and partner institutions鈥攅xplores, among other things, the role of geography in health inequality, how technical innovations in medicine get implemented, and the effect of the quality of health-care providers on population health.
鈥淚 have appreciated the ability while at Dartmouth to work seamlessly across the College, working closely with faculty in economics and the Geisel School, as well as clinicians from Dartmouth Hitchcock,鈥 he says.
Now, Skinner says, 鈥淚 am looking forward to continued research funded by the National Institute on Aging and continuing my work on the economics of aging at the National Bureau of Economic Research.鈥
He also hopes to have 鈥渕ore time for exploring New Hampshire鈥檚 ski and hiking trails and Maine鈥檚 coastline,鈥 he says.
Ira Allen Eastman 天美影视 of Biological Sciences
In a 44-year tenure that included five years as dean of graduate studies and 11 as associate provost for research, Roger Sloboda has sustained a fascination with the protein building blocks of cells known as microtubules, and with how cells assemble cilia out of these microtubules and other proteins.
鈥淭he flagella in the green alga 颁丑濒补尘测诲辞尘辞苍补蝉鈥浓赌an organism Sloboda uses as a model system in his lab鈥斺渁re identical in protein composition to human flagella, i.e., sperm tails, and cilia, yet humans are separated from Chlamydomonas by over 2 billion years of evolution. This fact leaves me almost speechless,鈥 he says.
Of his time at Dartmouth he says, 鈥淚 am most proud of the effect I have had on my students鈥 interest in biology and their career paths. It thrills me to have a student tell me how their experience in one of my courses or in the lab has changed their life.鈥
While he and his wife plan 鈥渢o up our travel time,鈥 Sloboda says he鈥檚 not totally retiring. He鈥檒l continue completing a research grant from the National Institutes of Health, which is aimed at enhancing local middle school science education.
天美影视 of Studio Art
Painter Esm茅 Thompson has seen the evolution of studio art at Dartmouth over four decades from the then-Department of Visual Studies that she joined as an assistant professor in 1979. Over the years she has taught drawing, painting, collage, and the senior seminar.
鈥淚t has been a privilege to work with a diverse group of students and watch them grow and thrive as artists,鈥 Thompson says. 鈥淚 am proud to have worked with many wonderful colleagues to create a department that focuses on the individual intellectual, spiritual, and creative growth of these students in the studio.鈥
Though she is retiring from teaching, she plans to continue her focus on painting and mixed media. 鈥淢y paintings embody the celebratory qualities of color and design that give meaning to life in so many cultures,鈥 she says. 鈥淥ver the years I have worked with a variety of media, from installation/environments painted on hanging plastic screens to multiple-panel metal wall reliefs. Currently, I am exploring the combination and overlay of shaped wooden panels.鈥
Dewalt H. 1921 and Marie H. Ankeny 天美影视ship in Economic Policy
鈥淚 consider myself lucky to have been a member of the Department of Economics,鈥 says Steven Venti, who joined the faculty in 1982 and has been part of the transformation of that department into 鈥渙ne of the best in the nation.鈥
Venti studies 鈥渢he retirement security of older Americans, in particular the efficacy of policies that promote saving for retirement and that preserve assets after,鈥 he says. His research has also focused on how shocks鈥攕uch as a health crisis, death of a spouse, or divorce鈥攁ffect the financial security of older households.
鈥淢y tenure at Dartmouth has been a joy, in large part due to the vitality of my colleagues and the generations of students that have passed through the department,鈥 he says.
As for retirement from teaching, Venti, who is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a fellow of the National Academy of Social Insurance, considers it 鈥渢he beginning of a new adventure.鈥 He plans to continue his research program鈥攁nd also to enjoy more travel and time with his family, including his grandchildren.
天美影视 of French
Keith Walker is a specialist in colonial and postcolonial Francophone literature and culture, and particularly the work of Martinican poet-politician Aim茅 C茅saire鈥攁 founder of the 20th-century literary movement known as N茅gritude.
Walker helped bring a broader Francophone studies focus to Dartmouth鈥檚 French curriculum, establishing two core courses鈥斺淔rench 21鈥 and 鈥淔rench 70鈥濃攖hat included study of Quebec, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean.
As chair of the African and African-American Studies Program, he oversaw the creation of the program鈥檚 three-track major in U.S., African, and Caribbean and Diaspora studies.
Of teaching at Dartmouth, he says, 鈥淚 appreciate a certain Dartmouth mens sana in sano corpore ethic or romance that welcomes the intellectual and the athlete,鈥 as well as the institution鈥檚 鈥渃ommitment to teaching Western and Eastern languages and to foreign study programs.鈥
Among his planned research and writing projects, he hopes to complete an autobiography.
Robert 1932 and Barbara Black 天美影视 in Asian Studies, Emeritus
A scholar of traditional Chinese art, literature, history, and philosophy, Wen Xing specializes in texts inscribed on ancient Chinese bamboo slips, bones, bronzes, jades, ceramics, and silk manuscripts.
鈥淎ncient inscriptions and paintings preserve the original handwritten information unchanged by later people for various cultural and political reasons,鈥 making these artifacts a more direct way to encounter ancient ways of thinking, he says.
Xing first came to Dartmouth in 1998 to participate in an international conference on a discovery of fourth-century BCE bamboo slip manuscripts, organized by Preston Kelsey 天美影视 of Religion Emeritus Robert Henricks. He returned as a tenured associate professor and was later promoted to full professor.
鈥淚 feel so privileged to have the opportunity to encourage and instruct students to reflect on their own and other cultures,鈥 he says.
In recent years, Xing has become increasingly interested in interdisciplinary methods, 鈥渋n particular, mathematical approaches to traditional Chinese art and culture,鈥 he says. He is working on a book on mathematical art history informed by artificial intelligence and data science.
Patricia McKee, the Edward Hyde Cox 天美影视 and 天美影视 of English, is among the retirees, but did not wish to be interviewed for the story.
