March 5, 2003
Contact: Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: March 5, 2003
MIDDLEBURY,
VT - Middlebury College officials have announced the establishment
of the Robert and Helen Stafford Professorship in Public Policy. The position
is named for former Vermont Senator Robert T. Stafford and his wife, who
are members of the Middlebury College classes of 1935 and 1938 respectively.
Christopher McGrory Klyza, professor of political science and environmental
studies, will be the first to serve as Stafford Professor. Faculty members
whose teaching and research falls into the area of public policy, broadly
defined, will be eligible for appointment to the Stafford Professorship.
Middlebury
College President John M. McCardell, Jr., said, The creation of
this chair recognizes the distinguished public career of Robert Stafford
and the loyalty of the Stafford family over the years and across the generations
to Middlebury College.
Chris
Klyzas teaching and research in the field of environmental studies
is well recognized and highly regarded. He is a most appropriate appointee
to the Stafford Professorship, added McCardell.
Klyza will deliver
his inaugural lecture as Stafford Professor this spring.
Following his
graduation from law school at Boston University, Stafford worked in his
native Rutland County, Vt., as a prosecuting attorney and states
attorney. His time in these positions was interrupted by service as a
United States Naval officer during World War II and the Korean War. In
1953, Stafford began serving as deputy Vermont State attorney general.
He later became state attorney general, lieutenant governor, and then
governor in 1959. He became Vermonts lone member of the United States
House of Representatives in 1960 and in 1971 became a member of the U.S.
Senate, where he served until January 1989.
As a member
of Congress, he championed a clean environment and worked to make higher
education more accessible through the student loan program that bears
his name.