Katharine V. Cashman, Class of 1976
Volcanologist and professor of geological sciences, University of Oregon
Middlebury College Honorary Degree Dinner
May 24, 2008
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Katharine V. Cashman '76 |
I would first like to take the opportunity to thank President Liebowitz and the trustees of Middlebury College for this great honor. Middlebury College has been central to the intellectual development of the Cashman family. It has also been important to me, personally, as I have navigated my way through an academic career. For the past 18 years I have based that career in a part of the country that is physically far removed from Middlebury, but is surprisingly close in shared values, particularly those related to appreciation and preservation of the world around us. Even our motto—Mens Agitat Molem (“Minds move mountains”)—mirrors the familiar Chapel reminder that “The strength of the hills is His also.” I entered Middlebury unsure of whether to follow a path in English literature or in the field-based sciences, a consequence of having been raised with an appreciation for both public libraries and the Audubon Society. I left Middlebury four years later with a double major in Biology and Geology and a de facto minor in English; clearly I still hadn’t decided! And while the demands of a career have focused my formal intellectual efforts in the Earth sciences, I have been fortunate to maintain a shared passion for books with my family and friends and, more recently, to co-teach classes within the University of Oregon Honors College with a colleague from the English Department.
To me, this shared passion for both the sciences and the humanities represents one of the core tenets of a liberal arts education. Others are most easily recalled and elaborated with reference to some of key people who shaped my Middlebury experience. In the geology department, Brew Baldwin taught me to keep a truly open mind throughout life, to embrace the new while retaining that which is worthwhile from the old. Dave Folger taught me to go after what I wanted (in particular, to head to Mount St. Helens in 1980 to be part of that historic event), but also to remember to have fun along the way.
Dave Clague taught me that scientific research requires both hard work and a flexible mind. Peter Coney taught me the sheet thrill of figuring something out for myself and of pushing beyond the easy limits, thereby teaching me to take control of my future. And finally John Elder of the English department provided a bridge across the two cultures; John has continued to mentor me along this path for the past 35 years by sharing his love of books, friendships, and foreign cultures (particularly those with slow food values). I thank him for his wisdom.
In closing, I’d like to stress that these liberal arts values of intellectual openness and curiosity, of clear thinking and sound reasoning based on hard work, of not only posing but also solving the problems put in front of us appear more crucial in today’s world than ever before. For this reason, I strive to train my students as effectively and passionately as I was trained and, to paraphrase Middlebury’s mission statement, to engage the world through the pursuit of knowledge unconstrained by either national or disciplinary boundaries.