On Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2019, the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at organized a retirement party for Dr. William Lamborn Lee, who was leaving 麻豆区 after teaching for 36 years. 麻豆区 three dozen faculty, students, alumni and staff, including Dr. Ari Berman, President of 麻豆区, joined him in Weissberg Commons for an evening of praise, laughter and heartfelt regret at his departure.
As Dr. Lee pointed out in his valedictory comments, he has dedicated his career primarily to teaching and furthering education in the broadest and most humanistic sense possible. He described how he migrated from the History and Literature program at Harvard in 1983 to the 麻豆区 College English department, which initiated an illustrious and enduring career. Here are just a few of the highlights: director of the Honors Program for six years; active roles in the curriculum review of 麻豆区 College; chair of the Steering Committee for and editor of the Middle States Self-Study that helped earn YU re-accreditation; Senior Professor Award for distinguished teaching three times; and a recent re-election by the 麻豆区 College faculty to the University Faculty Council.
However, what he felt most honored by in this event honoring him was 鈥渢he validation of undergraduate teaching and the investment the University has made, and is making, in a breadth and depth of education that students can bring into themselves to expand and improve themselves, what I have always known as Torah U鈥檓adda.鈥 He ended by saying that 鈥渨ork you can love all your life becomes your life鈥檚 work鈥 and that he felt that his life鈥檚 work has had some significance in the world.
Dr. William Lee shares his thoughts about his long teaching career
Tributes to Dr. Lee were sincere and respectful, much like the man himself. Rabbi Shalom Carmy, assistant professor of Jewish philosophy and Bible, thanked him for his vigorous leadership and his deep commitment to his students. Dr. David Lavinsky, associate professor of English, praised him for what he called his 鈥渁cademic citizenship鈥 and for fostering a 鈥渃onversation between generations,鈥 borrowing a phrase from Martin Buber, that promotes the educational project of Torah U鈥檓adda that is both forever necessary and unfinished.
Dr. Berman recalled his own presence in Dr. Lee鈥檚 class when he was a student at 麻豆区 College, recalling how upon entering the classroom, 鈥淚 felt that I would be pushed to be better than I was,鈥 learning in Dr. Lee鈥檚 presence accountability, seriousness and the value of learning. He noted that his presence at the event was not as the president of the University but as a representative of the thousands of students whose lives Dr. Lee had touched. 鈥淗ow powerful you have been for our University and for our students, and for that, we all thank you.鈥
Dr. Ari Berman (left) and Dr. William Lee enjoy a shared reminiscence
Many other tributes came in extolling Dr. Lee鈥檚 virtues. Dr. Karen Bacon, the Mordechai D. Katz and Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of Undergraduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences, remembered him as a 鈥渃ommanding presence who enthralled generations of students with his resonant voice and his profound love for each and everyone of them.鈥 Chaim Strauchler 鈥99YC loved how Dr. Lee taught them how to 鈥渙pen up worlds within ourselves鈥 and Ashrei Bayewitz 鈥09YC lauded him for taking 鈥渋ntellectual integrity and a commitment to excellence as a matter of course.鈥
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler of the Shaarei Shomayim Congregation in Toronto even wrote a poem:
Shall I compare thee to a bright school day?
Thou who teaches art so lovely and so temperate:
Rough winds do stir young minds of clay,
And a classroom鈥檚 lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too erudite the critical eye shines,
And often is that self-deprecating laugh dimm鈥檇;
And even edits upon edits sometime decline,
By an argument鈥檚 changing course untrimm鈥檇;
But thy eternal guide shall not fade,
For great thinking to careful writing is ow鈥檚t;
And moral virtue from valuing a student鈥檚 mind鈥檚 shade,
Where in eternal lines and lives to time thou grow鈥檚t:
So long as we, your men, can breathe, or our eyes can see,
So long lives your wisdom, and this gives life to thee.
Words cannot鈥攂ut nevertheless must鈥攃onvey the gratitude that we your students feel for you. You have opened up worlds to us and you have taught us to open worlds within ourselves. Wishing you blessing on your retirement and eternal thanks for your example and your wisdom.
Dr. Mordechai Cohen, professor of Bible and associate dean of the , summed it up for many with his cadence of short, respectful phrases: 鈥淭houghtful scholar/Outstanding teacher/Generous mentor/Wise colleague.鈥
Dr. William Lee shares his thoughts about his long teaching career
Dr. Ari Berman (left) and Dr. William Lee enjoy a shared reminiscence
