Other Duties as Assigned
That familiar catch-all seems to have been particularly relevant to the careers of four new Vassar retirees.
After more than three decades as teachers and scholars, M. Glen Johnson, the Shirley Ecker Boskey Professor of Political Science and International Relations, and Anthony Stephen Wohl, Professor of History on the Eloise Ellery Chair and internationally respected specialist in Victorian history, retired at the end of June.
M. Glen Johnson will continue his studies of Eleanor Roosevelt, human rights, and India.
Johnson served as dean of freshmen from 1966 to 1969, assistant to the president from 1968 to 1972, and acting president of the college from July 1997 to January 1998. Johnson also established and directed the college’s International Studies program. Theauthor of several books and many articles on U.S. foreign policy, international human rights, Indian foreign policy, and the former untouchables in India, Johnson has twice been a Fulbright Scholar in India, most recently as director of the American Studies Research Center in Hyderabad.
In 1992,Wohl was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is widely published in journals, books, and, most recently, numerous hypertext articles. He currently serves as a project director for a major international Website on the subject of “Monuments and Dust: The Culture of Victorian London.” Wohl has also been very dedicated to the Vassar community: He served on 21 Vassar committees and chaired the Department of History from 1990 to 1993.
Professor of History Anthony Wohl's plans for retirement include continued direction
of a major Website on the culture of Victorian London.
Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer Anthony Stellato retired after 20 years of service. When Stellato arrived at Vassar in 1980, the college’s endowment was valued at $86 million; its annual budget was $27 million. The most recent quarterly report on the endowment showed a market value of $692 million; the budget for 2000/2001 is $123 million. Stellato looks back on a record of enormous change and accomplishment during his tenure: major organizational restructuring of his division; the introduction of master planning and strategic long-term budgeting; streamlined budget procedures; major changes to the college’s physical plant; and, of course, the transition from old-fashioned bookkeeping to online accounting.
Thousands of drama students will recall Genevieve Kenny, who, over the 43 years in which she served as administrative assistant in Vassar’s drama department, performed so many jobs—including acting on stage—that some jokingly credited her with running the department. Kenny modestly insists that she always worked under the direction of her department chair, most recently James Steerman. For his part, Steerman acknowledges Kenny’s retirement with sadness. “She was both an unusually effective administrative assistant and an unusually wonderful person to have around.”