Honorary Degrees of Retiring Faculty
Sumner Richman, Professor of Biology, 1995
"Sumner Richman, it has taken much more than polishing the handle on the big front door to make you the Ruler of the Lawrence Na-vee. It has taken years of dedicated instruction-by-doing, of field work in all climates and all conditions, of devotion to your science and your students. All of those are symbolized by the R.V. Viking, the flagship of our fleet, which is here because of your persistent and imaginative efforts.
The Viking is a classroom because you are a committed teacher. So are the beaches of the Cayman Islands, and the waters of Green Bay and Lake Winnebago classrooms. Indeed, every place biology, and especially aquatic biology, can usefully be studied, you have made a classroom and laboratory. You have involved your students from the moment they enroll in your courses in the pursuit of real and rigorous science, and you have made certain that they enjoy the process of learning even as they meet the high standards you have set for their work.
In your thirty-eight years at Lawrence, you have come to symbolize aquatic science, and it has become unavoidable that when your students and colleagues speak of you, they speak in aquatic terms. Even when you indulged yourself by buying a diminutive sports car, it almost immediately became known as 'Sub's tub.' Such affectionate jokes arise entirely from the admiration and respect generations of Lawrentians have developed for your accomplishments as scientist and teacher. Some people may have found it difficult to enjoy a seafood dinner in your presence, since the anatomy lesson that accompanies the eating is not a universal taste, but in every other context you instill a dedication to learning that may be best demonstrated in the accomplishments of your former students who have followed you as biologists. They may not all be in your class as divers or sailors, and only the best of them can approach you as a teacher. But thanks to your early tutelage, they are first-rate scientists. Your career has given you much of which to be proud, and Lawrence shares that pride gratefully.
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."