Classics Department remembers Prof William C.Scott

William "Bill" C. Scott began his career at Dartmouth in 1966 as part of a cohort that reimagined and significantly expanded the Department of Classics. Bill had a range of interests in Greek literature, from Euripides to Sophocles to Aeschylus, but his greatest intellectual passion was exploring the works of Homer. He often commented that his most insightful contribution to the field of Classics was his introduction of the concept of the simileme—the idea that Homer's repetition of certain descriptors for characters in the Iliad and the Odyssey had deeper meaning than had previously been realized by other scholars.

Bill was a generous colleague. He regularly taught beyond his contracted course load to support the ancient Greek language curriculum. He read manuscripts from junior colleagues that were outside his specific areas of expertise but did background work to ensure that his comments had substance beyond critiques of writing style. Each morning, he spent half an hour in the Classics library, in what he called "the coffee klatch," connecting with members of the Classics department to discuss teaching methods or catch up on their research.

Bill was also committed to improving Dartmouth as an institution. He served in various administrative roles. Perhaps most significantly, he co-chaired the committee that moved the library into the digital age and oversaw the Berry addition to the Baker-Berry Library. He will be greatly missed.