Faculty Senate salutes Chair Tom Wasow
Outgoing Faculty Senate Chair Tom Wasow, right, smiled approvingly at the poem that was read in his honor at the senateÂ’s last meeting of the year on June 10. Academic Secretary Ted Harris, left, gauges WasowÂ’s reaction.
BY RAY DELGADO
When paying tribute to a man who has spent more than 30 years of his life dedicated to the study of language, it is perhaps fitting to reflect on his achievements through poetry  and hope that the honoree doesn't cringe when he hears it.
At least by that measure, the sendoff for outgoing Faculty Senate Chair Tom Wasow was a success. Wasow, a professor of linguistics and of philosophy, nodded his approval. Honored this year with the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for contributions to undergraduate education, Wasow chaired his last Faculty Senate meeting June 10 and was praised as a leader who steered the senate through a handful of controversial resolutions and an abundance of hefty committee reports.
In addition, he managed to keep his fellow senators amiable and mostly spat-free, despite leading a senate that lost its coffee privileges in the middle of the year due to budget cuts.
"I want to thank you, Tom, personally and on behalf of the steering committee of the senate and on behalf of the senate for your sterling job as our chair," said Norman Naimark, the Robert and Florence McDonnell Professor of Eastern European Studies. "You have managed this eventful year with grace and an evenhanded recognition of senate hands and the ability to keep us all on track through a busy agenda."
Naimark then went on to read a poem from steering committee Vice Chair Hester Gelber, associate professor of religious studies:
With quiet mien
And soft refrain
Our leader's led us true;
'Gainst Elsevier
And Oracles drear
Our leader's led us through.
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No athlete proud
Nor budget cloud
Our leader did dismay;
Through time constraints
And Senate plaints
Our leader saved the day.
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Magnanimous
And generous
As we can all report;
Life's quality
And equity
Our leader did support.
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At end of year
With summer near
The gavel's here well tendered.
Three cheers for Tom
Who's always calm.
The gavel's here well rendered.
After reading the poem, Naimark presented Wasow with a gavel as his parting gift.
Wasow then used the occasion to thank his fellow senators and the Academic Secretary's office staff for assisting him during his tenure.
"After over 30 years on the Stanford faculty, I feel great affection for this place," Wasow said. "Chairing the senate gave me the sense, or possibly the illusion, that I was helping to set the future direction of the institution."
Wasow particularly praised his fellow senators for their higher-than-normal attendance rate, a stark contrast to the previous year's final meeting, when former Chair Hank Greely noted the poor overall attendance of the senators during his tenure.
"I take some pride in the generally high attendance rate, for my goal at the beginning of the year was to make meetings interesting enough and efficient enough that senators would find it worth the expenditure of their valuable time," Wasow said.
But rather than spend any more time reflecting on the Oracle reports and faculty quality-of-life surveys that made the year so interesting, Wasow characteristically steered the meeting back to the agenda so the senators could get to the more pressing business: a party hosted by President John Hennessy later that afternoon.
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