Students, Alumni, and Colleagues Celebrate Rusty Simonds

By Jeffrey Mitchell

"For a long time I was very jealous of Rusty--he got all the good students," said economics Professor Arthur MacEwan. But it was no accident that Rusty Simonds--twice a winner of the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award--got the good students. "He had the good students because he thought he had the good students," said MacEwan. "By respecting them and expecting so much, he made them good students."

MacEwan was one of many UMass Boston students, alumni, and colleagues who filled Ryan Lounge on February 12 to celebrate the life of Arthur P. "Rusty" Simonds, an indispensable member of the university's Political Science Department from 1969 until his sudden death last October.

Maureen Worth, a current student, said that she was so nervous before entering a 400-level class with Simonds--her first--that she thought she would "get blown out of the water." But instead of the formidable taskmaster she had imagined, she found a "calm and friendly guy," chatting with his students about the politics of coffee. "He was never impatient, never looked at his watch," said Worth. Nonetheless she "ended up working harder in that class" than she had in any class before.

Clearly Worth's experience was the norm. According to Lori Brainard '90, who now teaches at George Washington University, Simonds would always do "whatever it took to engage" students. Once, for example, he "stood on a table and sang the national anthem--of France!" Always he would "be fully present," she said, and always he would "expect nothing less than a person's best."

Political science Professor Mo Cunningham '80 reported that he still hears students say today what he heard when he himself attended UMass Boston 25 years ago: "Rusty is my friend--but God, is he tough on me!" Simonds "coached his students, and coaxed them, but never, ever coddled them," said Professor Diane Paul: "He expressed his affection for students by encouraging them to believe that they could do intellectual work at the highest level." The result was generations of students like Boston Globe book columnist and reviewer Katherine Powers '76, who spoke of Simonds as a teacher "to whom I owe nothing less than the use of my mind."

Many others added their own tributes. Professor Paul Watanabe served as master of ceremonies and gave opening and closing remarks. Among the speakers were former students Kent Worcester '82 and Laura Gersch '02, current student Kim Walter, and retired Professor Charlie Knight. Librarian Bill Baer played the banjo, with student Maureen Worth providing a guitar accompaniment. Guitarist Peter Janson of the music faculty also performed, as did Professor David Patterson (piano) and Marilyn Bulli (soprano), who together offered a song of Patterson's own composition, "Last Words."

For Chancellor Jo Ann Gora, Simonds was "emblematic of the best" and "the embodiment of the culture of commitment" at UMass Boston. She and others recalled countless acts of service and generosity, and spoke of the distinction of Simonds's scholarly work. But again and again, his genius for teaching returned as the theme. According to Mo Cunningham, political science Professor Elizabeth Bussiere had earlier called Simonds "the best teacher any of us will ever know," and had pointed out that "you had to come to UMass Boston" to be taught by him, adding that "it was that way because Rusty wanted it that way."

Said Bussiere herself, Rusty Simonds was "the most exceptional human being I have ever known in my life."

Image: Laura Gersch '02, one of Rusty Simonds's students, speaks at the memorial for her former professor. (Photo by Harry Brett)

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