Bill Bowen, R.I.P.
October 21, 2016 4:28 PM Subscribe
A major figure in higher education has passed. William G. Bowen was president of Princeton, head of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and helped launch a variety of projects, including JSTOR, Artstor, and Ithaka Harbors. 2012 winner of the National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal, Bowen also found time to write nineteen books, many influential, often on higher education.
Tidbit from my own experience there--the criteria and standards for teaching are so high that graduate students (or postdocs) expressing a desire/enthusiasm to teach students are not automatically or casually granted an OK to do so. The rationale given is that teaching is a serious act and process, and in turn something that requires respect and deliberation on the part of the teacher. This cultural attitude, plus all the structural initiatives around campus in the form of education-related programs and centers, are evidence of Bowen's influence and leadership. Regardless of department, I think no person studying or working there leaves the place without reexamining for themselves what it means to be in education.
That, and Bowen Hall was a nice place to just chill and think.
posted by polymodus at 8:21 PM on October 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
That, and Bowen Hall was a nice place to just chill and think.
posted by polymodus at 8:21 PM on October 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
The Shape of the River had a big effect on me as a young faculty member.
posted by escabeche at 9:43 PM on October 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by escabeche at 9:43 PM on October 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
. Aaron Swartz
posted by banished at 10:09 PM on October 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by banished at 10:09 PM on October 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
"Here’s my view: Insofar as his intentions were to further the goals of proponents of open access (and no one is more of a proponent than I), the techniques he chose to employ were, to quote Dennis Blair, “not moral, legal, or effective.”" Source.
posted by banished at 10:15 PM on October 21, 2016
posted by banished at 10:15 PM on October 21, 2016
. Aaron Swartz
posted by banished at 10:09 PM
Unless you know differently, I don't think that JSTOR can be considered culpable for Aaron Swartz's death. Swartz's family issued a statement exonerating them and blaming instead the prosecutors and MIT: Meanwhile, unlike JSTOR, MIT refused to stand up for Aaron and its own community’s most cherished principles.
At the time, there was a more extensive statement from a family member which I can't find right now about how JSTOR went about things the right way, unlike some of the other parties. Obviously, Swartz's death was a tragedy and a crime, but I don't think it deserves to be the only thing anyone associated with JSTOR should be remembered by.
Mods, feel free to delete.
posted by GeorgeBickham at 1:09 AM on October 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by banished at 10:09 PM
Unless you know differently, I don't think that JSTOR can be considered culpable for Aaron Swartz's death. Swartz's family issued a statement exonerating them and blaming instead the prosecutors and MIT: Meanwhile, unlike JSTOR, MIT refused to stand up for Aaron and its own community’s most cherished principles.
At the time, there was a more extensive statement from a family member which I can't find right now about how JSTOR went about things the right way, unlike some of the other parties. Obviously, Swartz's death was a tragedy and a crime, but I don't think it deserves to be the only thing anyone associated with JSTOR should be remembered by.
Mods, feel free to delete.
posted by GeorgeBickham at 1:09 AM on October 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
I was actually on campus when we got the news during current president Eisgruber's opening speech for alumni volunteer weekend, where, among other things, we amended the motto to read "Princeton in the nation's service and in the service of humanity." It seemed a fitting memorial.
posted by ilana at 7:58 PM on October 22, 2016
posted by ilana at 7:58 PM on October 22, 2016
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posted by lalochezia at 6:45 PM on October 21, 2016