SCOPE

SPRING 2010

Volume 40, Number 3

Influential professors

VICE PR ESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT

Michael Casey

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Dan Forbush

EDITOR

Susan Rosenberg srosenbe@skidmore.edu

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Paul Dwyer ’83

pdwyer@skidmore.edu

CLASS NOTES EDITOR

Mary Monigan

mmonigan@skidmore.edu

DESIGNER

Michael Malone

WRITERS

Kathryn Gallien Bob Kimmerle Barbara Melville

Maryann Teale Snell Andrea Wise

EDITORIAL OFF ICES

Office of Communications Skidmore College 815 North Broadway

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 phone: 518-580-5747 fax: 518-580-5748

online: www.skidmore.edu/scope

SKIDMORE CO L LEGE

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Scope is published in January, April, and September by Skidmore College for its alumni, parents, and friends.

Printed on recycled paper (10% postconsumer)

I wanted to write regarding the article

about alumni relationships with professors (“Permanent Record,” winter Scope). I have had the pleasure of maintaining my friend- ship with Prof. James Kettlewell since I gradu- ated with a BA in art history in 1997. James helped me land my first job after college, at an auction house in New York City, and fully supported my decision to become a teacher. With his help I went to Teachers College and found a career teaching history, art history, and Chinese at the high school level. Now I am applying to PhD programs in art history and have been in close contact with him. I am fortunate to share many interests with him (although he has about a gazillion) in- cluding Asian art, Italian painting, architec- ture, “junk” and antique hunting, and the outdoors. I’ve delighted in our many talks about art, the antiques market, Saratoga his- tory, and life in general.

After his “retirement” from Skidmore, he remained active and began to explore new topics in his scholarship. James is both an excellent educator and a passionate scholar— an ideal mentor for someone like me. He truly shaped my career and inspired my love of learning.

Ally Montana ’97 Los Gatos, Calif.

I was interested by the winter Scope’s report on the Ciancio Teaching Award recipient. As a senior American-studies major, I took a course with Mary Lynn (not yet a PhD) in her first semester at Skidmore. You can never be sure about young, new instructors, but it was clear from the get-go that she was a talented teacher, and I was as engaged in her class as in any that I had taken.

Nevertheless, on the eve of the midterm I knew I was in trouble. Studying for it, I had difficulty bringing the material together, and the next day was every student’s nightmare: Sitting with my blue book before me, I was completely blank. I managed to fill a few pages and awaited the inevitable failure with dread (I was no scholar, but I maintained re- spectable grades).

Dr. Lynn’s “please see me” note gave me an opportunity to explain, and I left our meeting knowing that I had had a considerate hearing. I did well in the rest of the semester, but I was still surprised that my earlier collapse was not a factor in my final grade. Dr. Lynn’s fairness and understanding is one of my most memorable educational expe- riences, and, if it had been up to me, she would have been acknowledged for excellence in teaching 40 years ago.

Linda Stanley ’70 Wallingford, Pa.

Saratoga’s historic architecture

I was pleasantly surprised to see in the fall 2009 Scope’s “Saratoga Sidebar” a picture of a house that was our home for several years in the late 1960s and early ’70s. A classic exam- ple of the American or Craftsman bungalow, the house was pleasant to look at, interesting, and inviting. It was also a grand house to live in—spacious, efficient, easy to care for and maintain.

Whenever our family gets together, conver- sation often turns to our memories of living in “the house” on the corner of Circular Street and York Avenue. Although our stay there was relatively short, living there was an experi- ence of a lifetime, and provided us with a life- time of memories. Thank you.

Prof. Emeritus Douglas Huston Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

LET TERS

DO THE WRITE THING

Scope welcomes letters to the editor. E-mail your comments to

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