The retirements of two long-time professors and another's leave of absence will leave three departments without their biggest stars next fall.
Professor of History Gordon Wood and Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature Michael Putnam are retiring at the end of the semester. Paula Vogel, professor of literary arts and director of Brown's playwriting program, will take a one-year leave of absence before deciding whether her departure will be permanent, said the chair of the literary arts department.
Wood and Putnam have been at Brown longer than nearly all members of the incoming class of 2012 have been alive. Putnam has been teaching at Brown since 1960, and Wood since 1969, the same year the New Curriculum was implemented.
Wood has taught part-time for the past five years with the intention to retire at the end of the five-year period. He said he realizes he has been at Brown a long time.
"It is a little disturbing to hear people say, 'My mother took your course,'" he said.
Putnam, who has served as chair of the Department of Classics multiple times and as director of graduate studies, said he has been planning to retire for several years. He said he formally told Deborah Boedeker, chair of the classics department, of his intention about a year ago.
But for both professors, retirement hardly means rest.
Wood said he plans to finish a volume about the early American republic for The Oxford History of the United States and to work on two volumes of John Adams' writing for the Library of America series.
Putnam said he will continue to work on a collection of essays about how Virgil was received in a variety of different disciplines in the 2,000 years since his death - one of "half a dozen" projects he's doing, he said.
Boedeker said Putnam has been respected and loved by his students and colleagues.
"This sounds really sappy, but he's a very special person," she said. "He has a great capacity to appreciate as well as to analyze literature and to convey that appreciation. People know that he loves Virgil when you get into class with him."
Boris Shoshitaishvili '10 is one of those people. Shoshitaishvili said Putnam was a guest lecturer for a classics course in epic poetry that he took his freshman year. Putnam made such an impression on him that he took a month-long intensive Latin grammar course last summer to be ready to take LATN 1040: "Virgil: Aeneid" this spring.
Shoshitaishvili, who had not taken Latin since he was in eighth grade, said he thought the hard work was worth it. He called Putnam's class "one of those courses where, every time you come, you get a little bit blown away."
Both departments were able to prepare for Putnam's and Wood's departures.
"The department and the University have been working for five years to assure continuity in the field," said Kenneth Sacks, professor of history and chair of the department. The history department hired Assistant Professor of History Seth Rockman in 2004, and the department will soon begin a search to make a second appointment, he said.
Boedeker said the search for Putnam's replacement began in the fall. "We're nearing the final stage," she said.
Each professor will give a final lecture in upcoming days. Wood will give the final lecture of HIST 1710: "Era of the American Revolution," on Thursday, April 24, at 9 a.m. in List 120. Putnam's farewell lecture - not part of a specific class - will be on Tuesday, April 29, at 4:30 p.m. in Salomon 001. He will lecture about Jacopo Sannazaro, an Italian Renaissance poet, he said.
Vogel takes leave
The flurry of big-name professors leaving at the end of the semester also includes Vogel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. But Vogel's decision is not definite - she is taking a leave of absence, said Brian Evenson, professor of literary arts and chair of the department.
"She is keeping the door open, for whatever reason," Evenson said. But he added: "For all intents and purposes, we're moving forward as if she's not coming back."
Vogel declined to comment for this story.
When Vogel wrote to the department on Jan. 16 that she would be taking the position of chair of the Department of Playwriting and the Eugene O'Neill professor of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, she requested a leave of absence, Evenson said.
Vogel was granted one year for her leave. In the middle of the year, she will let Brown know if she is returning or if she will stay at Yale for the remainder of her five-year appointment, Evenson said.
Steven Padla, press director at Yale School of Drama, said he had not heard that Vogel was taking a leave of absence instead of resigning from Brown.
"We cannot comment on what her relationship with Brown will be, but she's certainly coming to Yale," he said.
In the meantime, the literary arts department cannot search for a permanent replacement for Vogel because she has not officially resigned, Evenson said. But an external search is currently underway for a one-year replacement. Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P'07 said he hoped to name the replacement in the next few weeks.
If Vogel decides not to return to Brown, a search for a permanent replacement will commence. Evenson said the department has already started preparing for that possibility.
The department has taken this as an opportunity to evaluate the future of the playwriting program and how it relates to other organizations and groups at Brown, Evenson said.
"We've admired the way Paula has structured the program," Evenson said. "But it's not perfect."