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| College dean John W. Boyer, AM’69, PhD’75, whose academic specialty is 19th-century European history, with a marionette of his favorite Habsburg, the Emperor Franz Joseph I. |
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| John W. Boyer, AM’69, PhD’75, the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of History, was appointed dean of the College in 1992. During his 31-year tenure, the College updated the Core curriculum, doubled enrollment, established the Odyssey Scholarship Program, developed UChicago’s unique Civilization Abroad programs, and more. |
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| Starting this October, Boyer will serve as senior adviser to President Paul Alivisatos, AB’81, focusing on international development, global education, public discourse, academic freedom, and the history of higher education. |
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| The interview below originally appeared in the Summer/12 issue of the Core. |
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| What is one mistake Franz Joseph made that you would never make? |
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| He was the emperor who declared war on Serbia, which led to World War I, which led to the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. In a way, he bears responsibility for the collapse of an empire that his family had ruled for 600 years. |
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| I would hope that my deanship does not in any way contribute to the decline and fall of the University of Chicago—although some skeptics in the 1990s, as we began to plan the increase of the size of the College, were accusing me of just that. |
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| The Empire was a multinational empire held together by an extremely effective and relatively honest civil service and local government. It was a very decentralized empire, and it had to be, because of the multiple ethnic groups that constituted it. |
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| The College is similar. To make it work, you need coherent, responsible local government—really effective department chairs, Collegiate masters, chairs of Core courses. Much of the heroic day-to-day work is done by these local leaders. Whatever larger plans one has about moving the institution in one direction or another, you have to have their buy-in and support. Otherwise your reforms are likely to be short-lived, perhaps even disastrous. |
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| I’m told that the Emperor sometimes makes an appearance during dinner parties. |
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| Yes. When I have students over for dinner, it’s usually a buffet. Now, if you were invited to dine at the Hofburg or the Schönbrunn, you were seated at large formal tables, and the emperor was always served first. He was a light, quick eater, but the protocol was that when the emperor put down his fork, everybody did. |
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| Many of the guests, especially those seated at the end of the table, got nothing to eat. People knew that, so they would make reservations at a restaurant for later in the evening. I always tell the students, in contrast, there’s no protocol, and there’s seconds for anyone who wants them, so have at it. |
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| How did the Emperor come into your life? |
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| He was given to me by a graduate student who bought him at a flea market in Vienna 20 years ago. He’s served me well. He probably needs to be dry-cleaned, but it would destroy his uniform. He’s aged with me and my deanship. He’s become my pal. I admire him and he’s still going strong, so I am too. |
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| Read a retrospective of stories on Boyer in the Winter/23 issue of the Core, out in February. |
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| John Snyder, AB’56, builds and sculpts with found fodder, melding utility with art. His work is inspired by the “remarkable beauty of mechanical things often shrouded from view in the interior of machinery, instruments, and appliances of everyday life,” he writes. In 2022 Bins of Miscellany, an exhibition of Snyder’s sculptures, was shown at the Century Association in New York. |
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| Firehose Nozzle Lamp (left), 2002 |
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| This functional lamp was built around a bronze firehose nozzle discovered at Vulcan Scrap Metal Co. The base is made from an industrial liquid stirrer, and the shade is a stainless steel funnel with a ribbed aluminum skirt, both perforated for cooling. |
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| Fire Hydrant Towel Dispenser (right), 2006 |
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| Snyder's wife, Virginia Lawrence, commissioned a paper towel dispenser heavy enough to stay put. A cast-iron NYC fire hydrant cover that she “found” on the street provides stability. A spring-loaded bronze gear presses down to anchor the roll before tearing off a sheet. The little bronze ball is swivel-mounted on the base so that it falls by gravity into the paper towel roll and keeps it snug as the diameter of the roll decreases. |
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“ |
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You never truly know what is going to happen in a class discussion. |
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—Alice Breternitz, Class of 2023 |
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| Among her all-time favorites: |
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Topic: Where on campus to put a farm
Course: Deutsch-Amerikanische Themen (German-American Topics)
Instructor: Colin Benert, associate instructional professor of Germanic studies |
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“Top contenders included a pasture on top of Regenstein or a cornfield on the Midway. My proposal was a farm on the main quad, with pigs, sheep, and cows, that could function as a petting zoo for students. This discussion was held fully in German. We learned a lot of vocabulary.” |
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| Q&A: The University that was |
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| Tennis courts on the main quad in 1956. |
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| Alumni: How has UChicago changed since you were in the College? Do you have fond (or not so fond) memories of living in Pierce Hall, Woodward Court, or the Shoreland? Did you participate in Sleepout or strip down for the Lascivious Costume Ball? Did you ever see President Hutchins blow a smoke ring in class? |
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| Previously in College Review |
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| The College Review, edited by Carrie Golus, AB'91, AM'93, is brought to you by Alumni Relations and Development and the College. Image credits: Dan Dry; John Snyder, AB’56; photo illustration by Laura Lorenz, photography by Jason Smith (quad) and Clara Bastian (cow); UChicago Photographic Archive, apf1-11920; DN-0080461 Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, Chicago Historical Society; Ben Pinchot [Vanity Fair, 1934], Condé Nast Collection/Artstor. |
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