Richard H. Brodhead (Special Tribute)

A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of English and American Studies

Richard H. Brodhead, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Yale University, faculty member at Yale since 1972, you are the complete Yalie. In your days at Yale as an undergraduate, you were a brilliant student, graduating summa cum laude, then completing your graduate studies in English and American Literature in four years. Superb scholar of American literature, you have written important works on 19th and 20th century American figures that capture the depth and range of the American style, and the forward-looking spirit of discovery and invention you yourself admire. You were a compelling teacher from the start, galvanizing large lecture courses as well as small seminars with your analytic power, wit, and eloquence, as well as your amazing capacity to touch each of your students individually. As the respected and popular dean of Yale College for eleven years, you have shown yourself one of the finest educators of your generation, leading Yale faculty and students with exceptional skill and finesse, and guiding the community to the successful completion of the first review of Yale College education in thirty years.

In a big institution like Yale, it is unusual to say of any single departing individual that he will leave a gaping hole. But you will. At the Yale-Harvard game in recent years Yale students have trumped their ancient foe by yelling: “We’ve—Got—Brodhead!” But though that yell will now belong to Duke fans, we know that it is no more possible to take Brodhead out of Yale than it is to take Yale out of Brodhead. As you leave New Haven to take the helm of another great American University, your colleagues and kinsmen in New Haven, torn by mixed emotions, salute your legacy with pride and affection and look forward to following your achievements in your new home.

Tribute Editor: Penelope Laurans