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Professor Betz was invited to address the Board at dinner
the night before the meeting. |
The
Georgetown University Library Board recently held its
spring meeting, at which it honored one
of its long-time
members and good friend of the Library, Professor of English
Paul Betz. Paul was to be the dinner speaker, but the Board
first surprised him with a series of tributes in recognition
of his enthusiasm for teaching, his devotion to Georgetown,
his intense support of the Library, and his passionate
collecting. Paul owns what is arguably the finest collection
of Wordsworth
materials and memorabilia in private hands in the world.
He has generously made purchases of rare items and first
editions to give to the Georgetown Special Collections,
and he inaugurated the Library series Professor and
Collector with a lecture and exhibit catalog of numerous treasures
from his personal acquisitions. The Board returned the
favor
to Paul with a gift of a leaf from an illuminated Book
of Hours from the 15th century. Displaying his expertise
and
never missing the opportunity for a “teachable moment,” Paul
pointed out the details of the manuscript to his audience,
remarking that it was a particularly fine example of raised
gold lettering, rather uncommon to find. Professor Betz
may be retiring from the University, but we are delighted
that
he will remain a member of the Library Board. |
Board member Lucy Lewis, C’72,
reminisced about the Liberal Arts Seminar she had taken
with Professor Betz. She said [he] “has the ability
to inspire students to teach themselves. He makes the intellectual
life enjoyable. His interest in the literature is infectious.
Students want to be like him--to find something in their
lives about which they are as passionate as he is about
Wordsworth.”
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Board member Bob Mendelsohn, C’68, noted that two
generations of Mendelsohns, both he and his son Ed C’00,
took classes with Paul Betz. Bob quipped that he thought
Paul’s grading standards must have decreased over the
years, because Ed received a much higher grade than Bob had. |
Professor of English Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J.
introduced Professor Betz. Fr. Ribeiro literally sang his praises
for his
colleague and English department neighbor Paul, lamenting only
that he didn’t know what he would do without him.
After Paul Betz spoke, the Board surprised him with a gift,
anonymously donated by a Board member for the occasion, of a
framed leaf from a 15th-century Book of Hours.
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