This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Two retiring members of the faculty who have been elected to emeritus status were recognized at the annual trustee-faculty dinner May 19. They are Susan L. Blake, professor of English, and Shyamal K. Majumdar, Gideon R., Jr., and Alice L. Kreider Professor of Biology. President Dan Weiss read the citations.
SUSAN L. BLAKE
When Prof. Susan Blake’s friends learned where she would be spending 1983-84 as a Fulbright Senior Lecturer, their first question was typically Why Togo? Her reply – “Because I haven’t been there before” – suggests the intrepid and open-minded spirit with which she has approached her teaching and scholarship as well as her life.
Her impulse to explore new areas has been amply reflected in the courses she has developed at Lafayette, including offerings in black writers, postcolonial literature, detective fiction, and travel narratives. She was also a pioneer in supporting efforts to diversify the Lafayette community and curriculum, including the addition of West Africa to the options for undergraduates interested in studying abroad.
Since 1974, when Susan joined the English Department while she was still completing her doctorate at the University of Connecticut, she has earned the admiration of countless students. “Susan is a devoted teacher who has kept abreast of my growth as a writer and educator since I graduated,” notes one grateful former student; “her work as a scholar continues to inspire and influence me.” Susan is equally generous in sharing her academic interests with colleagues and peers. The author of Letters from Togo and several dozen articles and book reviews, she has made numerous conference presentations and has held major fellowships and appointments as a visiting scholar. Her record of campus and committee service is exemplary and includes terms as associate head and head of her department.
Susan, we won’t ask Why Saskatchewan? We know you have been there before, and we wish you well as you continue your remarkable explorations as a teacher, scholar, writer, and traveler.
SHYAMAL K. MAJUMDAR
Several years ago, one of Prof. Shyamal Majumdar’s student researchers paid him the highest compliment. “I want to be like him,” she said.
Shyamal has been receiving compliments like this throughout his 37-year Lafayette teaching career. One of his first research assistants – Roger Newton ’72, who went on to play a major role in the development of Lipitor – said of Shyamal that “He was a very strong leader and mentor. He helped me to be disciplined in my science and go about it in an unbiased and results-driven manner.”
The holder of an undergraduate degree from Calcutta University and advanced degrees from the University of Kentucky, Shyamal began his Lafayette teaching career in 1969. He was named the Marshall R. Metzgar Professor of Biology in 1994 and became the Gideon R. Jr. and Alice L. Kreider Professor of Biology in 2000. The co-author of one book and editor of 29 others, he has supervised over 80 independent and honors research students. The College has recognized his achievements by selecting him to receive the Thomas Roy & Lura Forrest Jones Faculty Lecture Award, the Jones Award for superior teaching and scholarly contribution, the Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, and the Mary Louise VanArtsdalen Prize.
Tomorrow Shyamal will lead the academic procession as the Bearer of the Mace, an honor reserved for Lafayette’s most senior full professor. Shyamal, because you are retiring you will have to give back the mace at the end of the Commencement ceremony. You may keep your lab coats, however. In fact we know you will put them to excellent use as you continue to work with students on research projects in Kunkle Hall.