How long have you been at FDU?

Since 1969.

Just last week I saw the film “Bonhoeffer,” which documents the life of a minister who led the resistance movement to Hitler’s reign among German Protestants. I think we would all be inspired by the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer speaking out against the Nazi regime. (He was ultimately executed by the Nazis a month before the surrender of the Germans.)

I value openness to ideas, a willingness, on principle, to call into question some basic principles according to which we lead our lives.

… am a passionate football, baseball and basketball fan.

… singing in a chorus, playing the hammer dulcimer, taking walks in the forest.

I would love to have hosted the German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber and learn more about (and see him enact) genuine dialogue.

I would love to work full time in the field of conflict resolution. I’d least enjoy being in a field that limits contact with other people.

How long have you been at FDU?

I started at FDU as a part-time faculty member in 1997. I began my full-time position in January 2000.

I saw the movie “π [pi]” and then read the screenplay. The movie is hard to follow, but the book put it into perspective. I would recommend reading the screenplay before seeing the movie; you may want to know when to expect some of the more graphic scenes. I enjoyed the way the theme paralleled “A Beautiful Mind” by setting a picture inside the mind of a struggling genius.

I would recommend reading The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien for someone who has a few minutes a day for perspectives on the remnants of war in a short-story format.

My friends are everlasting and true; they accept me for who I am and encourage me to grow.

I do not have any tattoos, even though I have my motorcycle license.

… photographing Porsche Club Driver Education events, reading, writing, hiking and walking my dog.

My perfect dinner guest wears a smile and extends a hand. If I had to pick a specific person, I would say George Bernard Shaw. To compliment him, I would choose a vegan menu based on seitan and Irish vegetables. I would serve the most delicious vegan chocolate cake to complete the meal.

At some time in my youth, I would have liked to pursue a career in public service. Being involved in education is the most rewarding part of my career, which makes it difficult to say that I would attempt something that does not extend to helping others. I would not want to be involved in any profession that benefits from the misfortunes of others.

How long have you been at FDU?

Eight years.

“Seabiscuit.” It was a very good-hearted movie.

Honesty.

Complete the phrase: People would be surprised to know that I …

… am sensitive.

… anything athletic, especially outdoors.

Bruce Springsteen. Anything Italian.

What profession other than your own would you most like to attempt, and what profession would you want nothing to do with?

Work at the White House. I don’t want to be a mortician.

How long have you been at FDU?

This is the start of my fifth year.

“American Splendor,” the film about Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce. It was a smart, funny fusion of drama, documentary and cartoon animation.

Genuine, generous, vital people with a good sense of humor.

… love fishing in the Canadian boundary waters.

… music — I am an especially big fan of opera, though I listened to a lot of Ella [Fitzgerald] and Louis [Armstrong] this summer. I also love to read and travel and am always in museums and galleries.

I’d love to meet the 17th-century Delft painter Johannes Vermeer. Rather than serve him dinner, I’d like to share some great wine and talk with this brilliant artist about his work and life, of which so little is known. Maybe I’d bake him a strawberry rhubarb pie.

To be a great architect capable of building magical transformative spaces, like the Pantheon in Rome or Saint-Chapelle in Paris, would be something. Otherwise I’m quite happy with my current life as a sculptor. I would be very unhappy in the financial world.

September 2003

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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