As the College celebrated its 201st anniversary this February, it also celebrated its commitment to international education.
In his Founders Day address, President Roger Hull noted that the College has valued exposure to other cultures and beliefs since its founding, and that our tradition of sending students to other lands is growing rapidly.
“Twenty years ago, twenty percent of Union students studied abroad,” he said. “Five years ago, forty percent did so; today, the percentage is fifty-five. Given the fact that less than one-half of one percent of the twelve million college students in America study abroad, our numbers are truly impressive.”
He also noted that the College has broadened the range of possibilities.
“Again, twenty years ago, students could study in ten countries,” he said. “In 1990, they did so in seventeen lands; today, they have twenty-six programs to choose from.”
The president said that America's “melting pot/mixing bowl” character has made it a remarkable force, but cautioned that our unwillingness to learn to speak languages other than English could undermine our role on the world's stage.
“If we are to find success in a wide variety of areas against competitors from around the world, we have to understand other people better, and we have to begin to speak their languages,” he said. “And we in the academic world must assume the lead in attacking this difficult problem.
“Experimental language techniques, intensive language efforts, and the use of technology are some of the things we might well look into,” he continued. “Perhaps more important, though, we continuously need to expose students to other cultures and people. …It is up to us to insure that our students are truly at home in the world.”
In celebrating the importance of international education, the College honored the leaders of
three institutions with which it has student exchange programs.
Receiving honorary degrees were:
Gordon P. McGregor, the former principal of the University College of Ripon and York St. John in England and emeritus professor of education at the University of Leeds;
Tan Feng Liang, president of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China, and a professor and scholar of ancient Chinese literature;
Sadato Tanimoto, president of Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan.
Several other individuals received awards at the convocation ceremony.
Mary Carroll '86, assistant professor of chemistry, received
the Stillman Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Created by Union trustee Abbott L. Stillman '69, David Stillman '72, and Allan Stillman in honor of Abraham Stillman, father and grandfather, the award is given to a faculty member to encourage outstanding teaching.
Also honored for excellence in teaching were Rita Livingston, who taught mathematics and science for twenty-eight years at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper, Wyo., and Michael Zulauf, a history teacher at Gilford Middle High School in Gilford, N.H. Each received the Gideon Hawley Teacher Recognition Award, named for the 1809 Union graduate who was New York State's first superintendent of public instruction.
Livingston was nominated by
Graham Bryce '98, a math major and a graduate of Kelly Walsh High School. Catherine Bosiak '98, a history major and a graduate of Gilford Middle High School, nominated Zulauf, her former history teacher.
Professor Alfred T. (Ted) Goble, professor of physics emeritus and research professor of physics, was honored for his fifty continuous years of service and contributions to the College. Goble joined the Union faculty in 1945 and became research professor in 1974.