Past Scholars

Theme:  Cultivating Conversation Scholar Work: Gaudino Scholar Susan Engel: Cultivating Conversations – Gaudino Fund (williams.edu) Outgoing statement: Outgoing Scholar Susan Engel: The Gaudino Conversation Project – Gaudino Fund (williams.edu)… Continue reading »

Theme: “At What Cost?” Gaudino Scholar: Lois Banta – At What Cost? – Gaudino Fund (williams.edu) Scholar-Supported Work: Play Reading: “Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight” – Gaudino Fund (williams.edu) A Retreat for Asking Essential Questions – Gaudino Fund (williams.edu) A Visit From… Continue reading »

Theme: Dangerous Learning Magnus Bernhardsson, professor of History, received his B.A. in political science from the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, Iceland, a M.A. in Religion from Yale Divinity School and his Ph.D. in history from Yale University. He received fellowships from the Williams College Oakley Center… Continue reading »

Will Dudley graduated from Williams in 1989 with a double major in math and philosophy. He served as a Junior Advisor, was captain of the water polo team, and received a Herchel Smith Fellowship to study at Cambridge University. After a brief foray into power plant finance,… Continue reading »

Edward Burger, Professor of Mathematics, began his tenure as Gaudino Scholar in the Fall of 2008. A distinguished author of numerous articles and books, Professor Burger is especially well known for his exceptional pedagogical talents. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2007 Award of Excellence from Technology… Continue reading »

On May 3, 2006, Williams College President Morton Owen Schapiro has announced the appointment of Julie A. Cassiday, associate professor of Russian, as the college’s Gaudino Scholar. “Since I’m primarily a teacher of foreign language and culture, I’m very interested in focusing my energies as… Continue reading »

A history and political science major, James McAllister received a B.A. (magna cum laude) from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1988, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1999. At the time of his appointment as Gaudino Scholar, McAllister was an associate… Continue reading »

Robert Jackall, the Class of 1956 Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, was named Gaudino Scholar in the spring of 2001. On September 11, 2001, the Dean of Faculty, Professor Thomas Kohut, asked him, as Gaudino Scholar, to organize the College’s intellectual response to the atrocities of that day. For… Continue reading »

At the beginning of Professor Reinhardt’s tenure, the College’s annual convocation program commemorated the life and work of Bob Gaudino. Due to the scheduled speaker’s last-minute illness, President Hank Payne delivered on behalf of Preston Washington, ’71, the speech he had prepared. The remarks focused on seeking intellectual fulfillment over… Continue reading »

In his first year as Scholar, Professor Fleischacker, a professor of philosophy, launched the Gaudino Forums, weekly gatherings during which faculty and students could discuss controversial issues of public concern. The forums were designed to raise matters that were close to the hearts of both students and teachers and which… Continue reading »

A member of the Music Department, Professor Bloxam was the first Scholar to come from Division I (Languages and the Arts). Her projects developed along two lines: working to foster experiential education within the curriculum, and organizing students and faculty to undertake extracurricular public art projects that addressed matters of… Continue reading »

Professor Beaver, of the Mathematics Department, became the first scholar to focus on the implications of Robert Gaudino’s educational theories for the teaching of the sciences. Immersing herself in the Gaudino materials (especially in Herzog’s “Suitable Uses of the Gaudino Fund”) she decided that an authentically “Gaudinoesque” approach would consider… Continue reading »

An African historian and chair of the African and Middle Eastern Area Program, Professor Spear, like his predecessor William Darrow, emphasized the art of teaching, particularly on a diverse campus. He sponsored workshops on teaching and the curriculum and organized a faculty/student working group to examine in depth the relationship… Continue reading »

Professor Darrow, a professor of religion, served as Gaudino Scholar for only one year before accepting a position as Dean. Still, in that period he brought to fruition a proposal for a “Pedagogy Seminar,” recast as a more ambitious “Gaudino Teaching Forum.” It initiated several events, including a challenging workshop… Continue reading »

Professor Tauber used the position of Gaudino Scholar as a stimulator of change on campus. He led the formation of a committee whose self-defined mission was to examine critical aspects of the Williams experience, suggest changes, and see to it that the proposals receive serious consideration. In the course of… Continue reading »

Professor Baker, the first Gaudino Scholar, set a model for innovative use of the position, since he felt that Professor Gaudino’s gifts were idiosyncratic and that attempts at imitation were bound to fail, to the detriment of the Memorial Fund’s larger goal. The most prominent and far-reaching of his projects… Continue reading »