Claudine Weatherford

Like Joe, the last time I saw Bill was at our OMA gathering in Florida, a couple of years ago.  Such a delight to see him, and catch up and learn about his and Atsuko's life in Japan after years of being out of touch.  In the mid-70's, I spent many wonderful evenings with them in Rota and Seville, enraptured by his flamenco guitar expertise as he accompanied the ever-lovely, cheerful Atsuko as she twirled and castaneted in a long, flowing red dress.  Such a striking couple!  As I recall, Atsuko, strong willed, multitalented, well-traveled only agreed to marry Bill when he promised to learn Japanese.  Characteristic of his stand-out capabilities, intelligence, and, yes, integrity and decency, Bill mastered Japanese, making good on his promise.  The rest, as they say, is history.

How fortunate we are to have known and worked with Bill.  He contributed to the Overseas Maryland program in countless ways, enriching his students and colleagues with kindness, dedication and competence in a variety of positions.  We are all better humans having known him.

Those of us whose lives and careers have been deeply touched by Ben and his commitment to UMUC, have lost an enormously important influence and personality.  My memory of that first faculty meeting in Heidelberg (early 1970s) when, at age 26 with more stuff in my backpack than lines on my resume and surrounded by experienced Ph.Ds., Ben looped his arm in mine as we all strolled into dinner, asking me about my love of anthropology and archaeology. As Ben moved on working the crowd, Bylee took his place by my side.  What a team!  My confidence rebounded, and the evening became one of the most enjoyable and memorable of my early career.  Ben worked incredibly hard to grow and develop UMUC.  His leadership creating adult learning opportunities paved the way for so many of us to become professionally involved in distance education and other innovative higher ed programs during a transformational era.  How lucky I am to have spent a few moments with Ben during the Durham OMA meeting last spring.  His mind was sharp as a tack.  He was still interested in my career, and how I’d been able to blend management studies with anthropology.  Unbelievable.  Thank you, Ben. You are and will be missed.

Posted on: Mar 07, 2014 at 7:02 AM