Kermit Champa was a man of powerful words.
Since 1974, the husky tone with which he delivered art history lectures had captivated students - each word sharply enunciated, so that years later, his voice would echo in the minds of former students as they gazed at masterpieces in museums around the world.
He created his own six-syllable words. His students seldom - if ever - saw him smile. Dressed in a blazer, his gray hair combed in a delicate wave, he paced the platform of List Art 120, dispensing seamless lectures on Western art history from the Stone Age to the present, without ever pausing to look at notes.
"You could get a deeper sense of humanity from his lectures," said Sarah Burns '04, after her speech at Saturday afternoon's memorial service honoring the beloved art history professor. "I found myself holding my breath in his classes."
Champa died July 22 after battling cancer.
Students from across generations, faculty, family and friends gathered Saturday to celebrate the life of a man who "gave generations of Brunonians the gift of seeing art," as President Ruth Simmons said in a tribute.
Burns was one of the last students to work on a senior honors thesis with Champa. "Never before had I had the privilege of a weekly conversation with someone I would truly call brilliant," Burns said passionately to her audience in Sayles Hall. Despite his deteriorating health due to cancer treatment, Burns said Champa never missed an office hour.
She was one of many students who was so deeply moved by Champa's lectures that she decided to concentrate in the field of art history.
"He was the one who started the spark going," said Evelyn Lincoln, associate professor of history of art and architecture, at a reception following the service. "A lot of these gray-haired people you see here are Kermit grads."
Lisa Norris Ph.D. '93 identified with Burns' eloquent speech that spoke of a man who never ceased in challenging his students. "He would leave you with a provocative question, and you came to the answers," said Norris, an art history professor at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. "To try and do that for your students is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do."
On the day before his death, Champa was presented with a manuscript of a book, "Seeing and Beyond: A Festschrift on 18th to 21st Century Art for Kermit S. Champa," written in his honor by a number of his former graduate students.
David Ogawa PhD '99, co-edited the Festschrift, which is a collection of celebratory writing. Ogawa and his co-editor Deborah Johnson A.M. '74, Ph.D. '85 began compiling the book two years ago as a testament to the influence Champa has had on his students. It will be published by Peter Lang Inc. in December. Champa was to be honored with the book on his 65th birthday. Although the Festschrift was not yet published, his former students wanted him to be aware of the honor before his death.
"It is not so much a reflection of him as it is a reflection of his students," said Ogawa, now a teacher in the Department of Visual Arts at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. "The hallmark of him was his intellectual curiosity. He cared deeply about us as scholars."
Charles Rosenthal P'88, who spoke at the memorial service, described Champa's dedication to his students. During his struggle with cancer, Champa was taken to the hospital - with a briefcase filled with senior theses in hand. Rosenthal, whose daughter Andrea Rosenthal '88 died in the terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, said his daughter's passion for art history was nurtured by Champa's brilliance and generosity.
Champa was the first to be named the Andrea V. Rosenthal Professor in the History of Art and Architecture, a fund created by the Rosenthal family to honor their daughter.
On Saturday, after the memorial service, Jordi Friedman '93 rocked her baby in a stroller outside of the reception at the Maddock Alumni Center. She was at the event with her husband, Stephen Eskilson Ph.D. '95, who worked closely with Champa.
"We have a lot to thank him for," Friedman said, describing how she met her husband when he taught her as a teaching assistant for Champa's HA 1: "Introduction to the History of Art and Architecture."
Those at the memorial event were able to fill out cards with statements of gratitude and reflection that were read aloud at the end of the service. Many thanked Champa for the mark he left on their lives.
"Kermit Champa taught me to love art, to see it with new eyes," one student wrote. "It is a lesson I will never forget. I thank him for this gift."
