Honorary Degrees of Retiring Faculty
Curtis Leslie Brown, Associate Professor of General Studies, The Institute of Paper Chemistry, 1987
"Curtis Leslie Brown, child of the Holocaust, you escaped the cauldron that was Europe more than four decades ago, to conduct in our midst your life's work as an editor, abstractor, bibliographer, and teacher. As editor for more than thirty years, you transformed an obscure pamphlet entitled 'Library Notes' into The Abstract Bulletin of The Institute of Paper Chemistry--the foremost guide to periodical literature in the international paper industry. Under your direction, this unique publication embraced the computer age and now reaches thousands who seek knowledge through the magic of computer terminals and on-line databases. As teacher, you will be remembered by countless graduates of the Institute for your tutelage in scientific German.
As a student of things gelotological, you have explored the origins of humor and laughter; and your ever-ready wit and easy manner are testimony to the uniquely human ability to find in mirth relief from a perplexing and often capricious world.
Your passage from the ranks of the Institute opens new opportunities for the pursuit of other pastimes: opera, the piano, and graphology. And having summarized the works of others for many decades, you are now free to devote your full energies to the composition of essays of your own.
By the authority vested in me, I now confer upon you the degree of Master of Arts, ad eundem, and admit you to its rights, its privileges, and its obligations."