Asmerom ’73 dies at 66

News in brief: College remembers Grobe

Professor of Mathematics Emeritus Charles A. Grobe Jr. died after a long illness on September 29. He was 81 years old.
Grobe taught at Bowdoin for 35 years. In an email to the Bowdoin community last Monday, President Clayton Rose wrote that “his former students and colleagues carry with them fond memories of his sharp, dry wit and never-failing good humor.”
Grobe began teaching at Bowdoin in in 1964, after earning his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. In 1968, Elizabeth (Betsy) Mendell, his wife, also joined Bowdoin’s faculty, becoming the first woman to have a faculty appointment at Bowdoin.
“He was a family man,” said Isaac Henry Wing Professor of Mathematics William H. Barker. “He was just devoted to his two sons and his wife.”
Grobe gained a reputation for impressive blackboard lectures.
“He was very precise,” said Barker. “He would write very carefully and it was beautiful.”
Outside of teaching, Grobe had a passion for photography. On the cover of the 1974-1975 Bowdoin course catalogue is an orange and red photo Grobe took of a boat at sunset at Five Islands in Georgetown, Maine.
It was the only course catalogue cover in Bowdoin’s history to feature a photo that is not of a building on campus. Very few covers have photos at all, most simply featuring text and the College insignia.
“He was always very proud of that photo,” said Barker. “It is a lovely shot.”
Beyond mathematics and photography, both Barker and Rose remarked on Grobe’s incredible character.
“When he was ill, he showed true, really incredible courage,” Barker said.
“He was a remarkable member of the Bowdoin community and a remarkable teacher and scholar and a remarkable partner with his wife,” said Rose.

News in brief: Special collections expands hours to accommodate demand

In response to a large number of students using Special Collections this semester, the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections and Archives has extended its Thursday hours. Students and other researchers are now able to access Special Collections from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, as opposed to the previous hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
According to Kat Setfko, director of Special Collections and Archives, the increased hours are intended to better meet the needs of students.
“Our concern is that the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. may not be the best for students, who are often in classes during that time,” she said. “Because we have a lot of students that are coming in this semester with a variety of classes we wanted to be able to try to be open during hours that might better meet their calendar needs.”
Peter Mumford ’17 is using documents from special collections for a research paper on how Bowdoin maintained its commitment to the liberal arts model of education during World War II.
“I think [the expanded hours] are a great idea, especially if you’re trying to work on a project that spans the entire semester. Having the ability to go in there during normal study hours instead of during the day is pretty crucial,” said Mumford.
According to Stefko, Mumford and one other student made use of the first set of expanded hours, along with another non-student researcher.
The office is open to the idea of adding additional hours depending on the needs of students. “We’re hoping what’s going to happen is we’ll see a lot of students during those evening hours, which would be a good indicator that that’s something that we need to continue to do,” said Stefko.
The office started the expanded schedule last week. The current schedule will continue through the end of the academic semester. Special Collections is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays other than Thursdays.

News in brief

October 14, 2016

Bowdoin alum and Eritrean permanent representative to the United Nations Girma Asmerom Tesfay ’73 passed away in New York on October 5 at age 66, Eritrea’s Ministry of Information confirmed.

Born in Ethiopia in 1949, Asmerom played for the Ethiopian national soccer team and was a part of the 1968 African Cup before coming to Bowdoin. He played soccer at the College as well, once scoring four goals in a game against Bates in 1971—still the second-highest number of goals in a game ever by a Bowdoin player. Although he only played three seasons, his 32 goals during his time at the College set a record at the time.

“Many times his actions on the field leave the opposition looking awkward and bewildered and the crowd chuckling,” the Orient wrote of Asmerom in 1971.

Asmerom majored in government at the College before going on to receive his master’s degree in international relations from American University. He returned to Ethiopia, joining the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in 1978 to fight for Eritrean independence from Ethiopia. After Eritrea formally declared itself 1993, he served in several diplomatic positions. He became Eritrean ambassador to the U.N. in 2014.

His death was met with an outpouring of grief on social media, as well as condolences from ambassadors of several other nations. Remembrances of the ambassador described him as a man dedicated to the people and to the fight for equality.

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