Congratulations on two lovely pieces about truly distinguished past members of Western’s professional staff, David Mills (“Honouring the man behind the bylines,” June 7) and Wendy Waldie (“A Western relationship,” June 7). Having had some contact with both during my own career, I can only say they painted (in Wendy’s case a self-portrait) remarkable pictures of people whose devotion to their roles at the university have helped make Western what it is today.
I was further prompted to muse about whether the next generation of staff will serve with the same enthusiasm and unselfish loyalty. No longer intimately associated with the institution, I cannot answer my own question. I hope so. The quality of an institution depends not only on stellar faculty and enlightened administrators, but on the many unsung heroes and heroines on whose performance the university’s stature is vitally dependent.
You did well in featuring such exemplary but little known members of the university community, and I trust you’ll continue to do so. May such outstanding examples, and the recent establishment of awards to honour distinguished staff, encourage others now and in the years ahead to emulate such achievement. That will help ensure Western’s future lives up to its heritage.
Thomas N. Guinsburg
Professor Emeritus