In memoriam
Former Clark Trustee Fairman Cowan, of Worcester, Mass., died on Oct. 14, 2008. He was 93.
A generous benefactor affectionately known by Clark students as "the guy in the bow-tie," Mr. Cowan interfaced between administration and students as vice chair of the board. He served as trustee from 1964-76 and again from 1979-86. He became an honorary trustee in 1986.
He graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1937 and in 1940 he graduated from Harvard Law School and became an associate at the Boston Law Firm of Goodwin, Proctor, and Hoar, becoming a partner in 1952.
Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Fairman joined the Navy, and served as a naval intelligence officer on the command ship USS Augusta.
In 1955, Mr. Cowan moved to Worcester, where he became general counsel of the Norton Company, and later vice president, secretary and clerk of the corporation. He was a director of Mechanics Bank from 1958 to 1986. He retired from Norton in 1979 and, for the next 11 years, was Of Counsel for the law firm of Bowditch and Dewey.
Mr. Cowan was a founder of the Plan E/City Manager form of government and an ardent supporter of first-time city politicians, particularly those committed to social justice. From the 1940s, he believed in reproductive health and choice and was a formative influence in Planned Parenthood 's total pregnancy clinic in Worcester. He was committed to equal access to quality public education.
Mr. Cowan was an incorporator of the Alliance for Education, which gave him an award as "an outstanding friend of education," and Advocates for Excellence in Public Education. He received a number of honors, including the Isaiah Thomas Award in 1995, the establishment of a fund in his name at the Worcester Regional Research Bureau in 2005, and the "Good Guys" award from the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus in 2005.
Mr. Cowan was a generous contributor to a number of causes. As a final charitable contribution, he donated his body to the UMass Medical School.
Professor Morton Wiener, Worcester, Mass., died Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. He was 88.
A long-time faculty member in the Hiatt School of Psychology, Professor Wiener came to Clark in 1957. He retired from his faculty position in 1991 and remained active in the field and at Clark.
"Mort loved arguments," recalls psychology professor Joseph de Rivera. "And since he was a behaviorist, and I work with experience, we would have wonderful arguments every time we met in the hall. If I would say something about a feeling of sadness, he would say, ‘How do you do sadness? Do you turn your mouth down, droop your shoulders, speak more slowly? ' He would argue to win, but with such a warm presence one never felt attacked. His papers on ways of doing depression are a wonderful contribution to the field. "
Professor Wiener was an Army veteran of WWII having served in the Pacific Theater. He graduated City College of New York with a B.S in 1949 and an M.S in 1950. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Rochester in 1953.
Professor Wiener also had a successful private practice and only retired recently. He was an accomplished author of two books, wrote numerous articles for many professional journals, and was a consulting editor to many of those same journals. For many years, he was a consultant to the Veterans Administration 's psychological training programs. He was a fellow of the American Psychological Association, a diplomat of the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Professor Emeritus Raymond Barbera, of Worcester, Mass., passed away peacefully at home, on Oct. 12, 2008, after a long decline.
At Clark, Professor Barbera taught comparative literature and Spanish literature for more than 30 years. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a communications officer in the Pacific during World War II. He was an avid tennis player, violinist and reader. He maintained his passion for learning and teaching throughout his life.
Professor Barbera will be fondly remembered by Clark colleagues and friends as the first director of the innovative B.A./M.A. program in Comparative Literature. This was Clark 's first experimental program in building bridges between advanced undergraduate study and master 's level education, the forerunner of the present-day fifth-year program. He served as the director of the Comparative Literature Program from its inception in 1972 until his retirement in 1976.
Through his efforts, Comparative Literature became the catalyst for the transformation of the separate mini-departments of Romance Languages and German into the current Foreign Languages and Literatures Department. In collaboration with Walter Schatzberg, first chair of the newly formed department, the programs in French, Spanish and German were strengthened. Jewish Studies and Classics were added as integral components of an expanding notion of the comparative study of literature that Professor Barbera spearheaded. New faculty were recruited, and important links for comparative and cross-disciplinary study of literature were established with colleagues in the departments of English, Philosophy, Psychology and Visual & Performing Arts.
"For many of us, the most important contribution that the Comparative Literature Program made during the years of Ray 's directorship was that it attracted a diverse and talented group of undergraduate and graduate students who, through our program, were able to pursue avenues of study not otherwise available in more traditional literature majors, " says Spanish professor Marvin D'Lugo. "He was a believer in dialogue and instrumental in the establishment of the Comparative Literature Colloquium, which flourished for many years as a forum for the free exchange of ideas among faculty and students.
"Trained in Spanish Golden-Age literature, Ray was a strong defender of literary theory as disciplinary route to a richer understanding of literature and its relation to the arts. Many aspects of the cross-disciplinary, theory-based study of literature and the arts that are hallmarks of today 's Comparative Literature curriculum at Clark found their origins in the rich period of his directorship. "
Deaths
The following members of the Clark family have passed away. If you wish to contact any of the families, please call or write to the Alumni Office.
- Raymond Barbera, Worcester, Mass., Oct. 12, 2008. (See above)
- Carl Berg '36, M.A. '42, Auburn, Mass., July 17, 2008.
- Anna Butkewich '84, Worcester, Mass., Oct. 22, 2008.
- Mitchell Chakour '60, M.A.Ed. '67, Worcester, Mass., Nov. 15, 2008.
- Fairman Cowan, Worcester, Mass., Oct. 14, 2008. (See above)
- Thomas Duncan '50, North Haven, Conn., Sept. 15, 2008.
- Mary Virginia (Carroll) Hedberg '46, Worcester, Mass., Nov. 24, 2008.
- Paul Jensen M.P.A. '92, Rutland, Mass., Nov. 19, 2008.
- Bernie Kaplan M.A. '50, Ph.D. '53, Worcester, Mass., Dec. 2, 2008.
- Sally Lingner M.A.Ed. '60, Worcester, Mass., Sept. 6, 2008.
- Anne Mazur '50, Westborough, Mass., Sept. 14, 2008.
- Richard Moriarty '48, Worcester, Mass., Sept. 20, 2008.
- Barbara Morrow '59, Westboro, Mass., Nov. 3, 2008
- Norman Schoenfeld '59, White Plains, N.Y., Feb. 27, 2008.
- Sophia (Hurwitz) Sheftel, Worcester, Mass., Sept. 20, 2008.
- Randall Smith '68, Manchester, Conn., April 14, 2008.
- John Stokes '85, Waltham, Mass., March 17, 2008.
- Carlo Tagliavini '48, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Oct. 19, 2008.
- Steven Tavares M.B.A. '83, Worcester, Mass., Oct. 24, 2008.
- Morton Wiener, Worcester, Mass., Oct. 8, 2008. (See above)
A special in memoriam will appear in the next issue of Clarknews for Professor Emeritus Bernard Kaplan, who died on Dec. 2, 2008.
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