As part of the University of Miami centennial celebrations, the College of Arts and Sciences hosted a luncheon for emeritus faculty members and retired staff.
The event, held on April 8 at the Frost Institute for Chemistry and Molecular Science, brought together more than 40 emeritus faculty members and retired staff to celebrate their contributions to the college’s history.
“I would like to say that you have made a difference,” Leonidas Bachas, dean of the college, told the attendees as he welcomed them to the event. “It’s your ideas that guide us, your ideas that bring us forward, and I would like to thank you for that.”
Alex Wilson, the interim vice provost for faculty affairs, also applauded the attendees for their years of service.
“One hundred years is more than a milestone. It’s a testament to our resilience, our remarkable progress, and our impact on generations of students,” she said. “Our emeritus and retired faculty and retired staff have contributed greatly to the growth and innovation at the U. You helped us grow to where we are today.”
During the luncheon, several attendees shared memories and reflections from their time at the University. Among them was Eugene Clasby, a professor emeritus of English and former chair of the Faculty Senate, who reflected on the joy he experienced mentoring students.
“I am so grateful that I had a chance to teach them and learn from them,” he said.
George Alexandrakis, a professor emeritus of physics and former chair of the Faculty Senate, talked about advocating for campus beautification efforts and an increase in scholarship funding in the 1970s and 1980s. As a result of the scholarship initiative, he recalled, “We got the highest SAT class in the history of the University [up to that point] in 1989.”
Julie Garcia, a retired staff member who worked in both the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Computer Science, shared memories of the connections she made at the University, including getting to know students who weren’t able to go home for Thanksgiving when she invited them to celebrate the holiday with her family.
“I can say this with certainty: the most special thing was the relationships I developed with faculty, with staff, and with students,” she said.
Daniel Pals, the director of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program and the interim chair of the Department of Religious Studies, who served as interim dean of the college in the early 2000s, thanked the dean for his leadership and the staff for their support.
“I’ve noticed over the years, and we’ve all noticed this, that while faculty are the heart of the college and the University, actually the lungs that feed that heart are the staff who have worked with us for many years,” he said.
The emeritus faculty members and retired staff went home with mementos from the event, including a Stanley cup, a commemorative centennial coin, a copy of the centennial issue of the college’s magazine, and a centennial tote bag.
While the event provided an opportunity to look back, Bachas also referenced the future of the University and the impact the emeritus faculty members and retired staff made in laying the foundation for the college’s next century.
“We remain a University that is always looking to the future, and I hope that as you look at us, you will see that we are not standing still,” he said. “We are always thinking about something new, even in turbulent times, in uncertain times, we evolve, we do better, we create new ideas, we bring new people to the table, and we move forward.”
