One of the greatest awards any professor could receive revolves around the establishment of a Professorship which lives in perpetuity at the College. This indeed took place with the Class of 1965 setting up the Frederick Rudolph ’42 Professorship of American Culture at Williams College. I and many others were the beneficiary of Fred’s superlative teaching and communications skills, along with his gracious and energizing style while exploring my major in this field at Williams. 

As everybody knows, Fred was a very charismatic figure at the college and on my periodic visits over the years I would take Fred and his wife Dottie out to dinner at Mezze Restaurant where he would literally “hold court” with the Williams community. The stories were legendary and the humor at a high level. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this iconic person’s life who was deservedly awarded the Rogerson Cup for distinguished Alumni service.

Fred encouraged me to think “outside the box” and explore topics which would have enduring value. One subject I studied with Fred revolved around Henry Adams, an American historian, Harvard Professor, and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. Adams’ literary skills were epitomized by his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Education of Henry Adams (which Fred encouraged me to read replete with an amazing section on Chartres Cathedral). The latter topic dovetailed into my strong interest in Cathedrals nurtured by Whit Stoddard taught Art History courses at Williams. In Chartres, Adams described the medieval world view as reflected in its cathedral which he thought expressed “an emotion the deepest man ever felt – the struggle of his own littleness to grasp the infinite”. Fascinating.

Thank you, Fred, for introducing me to these rich topics and for your support and friendship over the years.