Up the Housie January Two beautiful paintings by Bjorn Runquist (above and page 1) now hang in Hoerle Hall, thanks to the generosity of Lynn Doe Shipway ’66, Beau Genovese and Tom Cabelka, friends of Kent. Their gifts were made in honor of Christ Dineff ’14.
Bjorn W. Runquist HAVING EARNED A B.A. AT COLGATE, Bjorn
Runquist went on to earn an M.A., with distinction, from Kings College, University of London, in Romance Languages and Literature. Bjorn is among a select group at the School, having been appointed to the faculty here not once, but twice, as a member of the Foreign Languages Department. In 1977, during his first year at the School on the Hill campus, when he expressed surprise about his teaching load (four courses, five sections—with his wife, Anne, even helping to correct French 1 homework!) and coaching assignments (three interscholastic sports), Brud Humphreys replied, “Didn’t you get my letter?” From 1981 to 1993, Bjorn served as the head of the French section at Choate-Rosemary Hall, where he held the Frank C. Wheeler Chair for Excellence in Teaching, taught all levels of French (including AP Language and AP Literature) and served on the AP test development committee from 1988 to 1991.
Bjorn’s desire for a smaller school and a more close-knit environment for his growing family led him to seek his second appointment here at the School, beginning in 1993, where, once again, he taught—and very much enjoyed—all levels of French instruction and his tennis and squash coaching assignments. He was appointed department chairman in 1999 and is a past holder of The Harlan and Ria Newell ’36 Teaching Chair in Modern Languages. As a colleague, department chair, teacher and advisor, Bjorn has served as an outstanding mentor to new teachers, a light hand in allowing his department members the flexibility and space to teach as they can do most effectively, and as a wonderful, wise sage in offering advice and promoting conversation and interaction in the area of French language, but so much more, too, including literature, philosophy, culture, food and travel. Young and old, many are the beneficiaries of his time spent as a font of learning and discussion in these areas.
Headmaster Dick Schell congratulated Bjorn Runquist on the occasion of his retirement.
SUMMER 2013
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