5/7/10

Magister optime, vale!

Professor Dennis Glew, former chair of the Moravian Honors Committee, is applauded at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Honors Program, held April 10, 2010. Photos: J.KishIV

From his earliest days at Moravian, he impressed colleagues and students with his intelligence, wit, and collegiality.

"Dennis and I were hired the same September 1970, he from Princeton and I from Indiana University," recalled Robert Stinson, professor emeritus of history. "I remember seeing him for the first time during a new faculty orientation and feeling scared to death of him. He was bow-tied and tweedy and carried an awfully academic-looking leather brief case, looking something like Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

"He proved as relaxed and relaxing a colleague as I could hope for. I don't think anyone among us had a better sense of humor than Dennis Glew, or [as a historian] a better vision for what actually was—rather than what something looked like."

"Of all my professors at Moravian, Dr. Glew probably had the biggest influence on me, not only  guiding me through my academics, but also shaping my future career decisions."

"Dennis has been my friend since the day I applied for the position at Moravian in 1971," said Janet Loengard, professor emerita of history. "His kind and welcoming manner helped convince me that this was the place I wanted to teach. He was one of the very best chairmen the department had during my years there, and his students both loved and respected him."

"Of all my professors at Moravian, Dr. Glew probably had the biggest influence on me, not only guiding me through my academics, but also shaping my future career decisions," said Judy Stevenson '06, now archivist at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Del.

"One of my most memorable moments was when the Classics Society (he was advisor and I was president) put on a production of Minotaurus, an original Latin play written by Moravian's own Dr. Jim Tyler. After years of hearing Dr. Glew enthusiastically read Latin aloud in class, I knew we had to cast him in the play. After much coercion, he agreed to play a small role involving a grand speech. To this day, I can picture Dr. Glew standing statuesquely in his toga as he delivered his lines with great gusto and authority in a manner befitting a Roman god!"

One of Glew's first post-Moravian projects will be to complete a study of the coins of the eight kings of Bithynia, who ruled from approximately 310-74 BC. He and his wife, Dorothy Glew, information literacy and reference librarian (who also is retiring), plan to travel, especially in the West. Dennis looks forward to more hiking and backpacking, birding, and bicycling.

"I will miss my colleagues and students, and the Honors Committee," he said. His hopes for Moravian? "Increased support for SOAR [Student Opportunities for Academic Research] and Honors, and more students who are open-minded, hard-working, and full of curiosity and imagination."

Students like Doug Anderson '80, he added. "Doug studied ancient Greek and Greek history with me. It was a great pleasure to introduce Professor Douglas Anderson [philosophy, Southern Illinois University Carbondale] as the guest speaker at the recent undergraduate Philosophy Conference at Moravian. Those years, around 1980, were some of the best of my career."