"Academic Duty", "The Right Stuff", and M.C. Escher: Reflections from the bus

ANYL 182

Jeanne A. Pemberton, Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, 1306 East University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721
The table of contents of the book entitled ‘Academic Duty' by the former President of Stanford University, Donald Kennedy, nicely captures the academic principles that provided the foundation for the career of the late Professor Ted Williams: To Teach, To Mentor, To Serve the University, To Discover, To Publish, To Tell the Truth, To Reach Beyond the Walls, To Change. The intensely-personal, intricate tapestry of an academician's career is woven from a time- and place-dependent montage of these duties that, in hindsight, often takes on characteristics of the ‘impossible structures' found in many of M.C. Escher's designs. Each of these academic duties will be explored in the context of modern higher education with examples drawn from the presenter's career and with reflections on lessons learned through chance encounters, deliberate actions, and shared passions of the presenter with Ted Williams.