University of Virginia Library

NYU Official Directs Program

University's Sesquicentennial Set

Sesquicentennial year for the
University, marking the 150th
anniversary of Mr. Jefferson's
founding of this institution will
feature a wide range of events
directed by William S. Willis, an
administrator at New York State
University.

The anniversary festivities will
begin next January with a "Town
and Gown" dinner, a performance
by the Hague Philharmonic
Orchestra at University Hall, and a
dinner sponsored by the Newcomb
Society of America in New York
City to be addressed by President
Shannon.

Antigone

On February 17, the French
Repertory Company, sponsored by
the Department of Romance
Languages, will present "Le Treteau
de Paris" of Jean Anouihl's
"Antigone" in the Lane High
School Auditorium.

"Creativity in an Automated
Society" will be discussed from
March 11 to 15 by the Spring
Group of Visiting Scholars.
Featured will be poet Robert
Lowell, William C. Seitz, Professor
of Fine Arts and Director of the
Rose Art Museum at Brandeis
University, and Frederick B.
Thompson, professor of Philosophy
and Applied Science at the
California Institute of Technology.

Founder's Day

Founder's Day, April 14, will
feature major events of the
sesquicentennial calendar. The
theme of "The University in Public
Service" will be expounded in
symposia on the Founder's Day
Theme and in the Founder's Day
address by Esmond Wright,
Professor of Modern History at the
University of Glasgow.

Mr. Wright is a member of
Parliament and an alumnus of the
University (M.A., 1940).

On the agenda for the 1969-70
session is a discussion on "The
Future of Political and Intellectual
Freedom" to be given by the yet
unannounced Fall Group of
Visiting Scholars. This event will
take place from September 23
through 27.

Commonwealth Day. October
17 and 18, will honor legislature
and state officials at a dinner
Friday evening in Newcomb Hall
and at the President's luncheon the
next day. Capping off the weekend
will be the Virginia-North Carolina
State football game.

Convocation

The close of the year's events
will be the Sesquicentennial
Convocation on October 19-21,
featuring a reception at Monticello.
Panels will discuss Modern Man and
the Enlightenment and Modern
Man in the Finite World. The
festivities will close with a
performance at University Hall by
the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The calendar of events is
preliminary and is subject to
revision, however, these early plans
clearly suggest the wide variety of
events of interest in the coming
year, the University's
Sesquicentennial Year.

University Graduate

Mr. Willis, a 46-year-old
Charlottesville native, received a
B.A. degree in music with honors
from the University in 1942. After
four years of service with the Army
in Europe, he returned to the
University to take a M.A. degree in
French in 1947. In the meantime
he taught high school classes in
Gordonsville and was a graduate
instructor in French at the
University. After four further years
of study at the Sorbonne, he
received his doctorate with honors
from the University of Paris in
1951.

Mr. Willis' more recent activities
include service as assistant dean of
the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences at NYU and as director of
special projects for the office of
development. He has been in charge
of NYU's International Student
Center since 1965.

Before joining the NYU faculty,
Mr. Willis served as director of the
college department of the
Co-operative Bureau for Teachers in
New York City. He also acted as an
administrative assistant at the
United Nations.

Assistant To Dean

He was assistant to the dean of
Washington Square College of Arts
and Sciences at NYU from 1953 to
1957 and director of Albert
Gallatin Associates of NYU for the
next two years.

Mr. Willis has been
secretary-general of the French
Alliance in the United States and
Canada; director of the Greater
New York Council for Foreign
Students; a consultant to the New
York State Education Department
of Regents College Teaching
Fellowship Program and a member
of the Council on International
Educational Exchange.

Grande Medaille

In 1958 he received the Grande
Medaille de l'Alliance Francaise in
the United States. Three years ago
he received the Chevalier de l'Ordre
des Palmes Academiques from the
French Ministry of Education for
"distinguished services rendered to
French culture." Last year the
Organization of Arab Students in
the United States and Canada
awarded him a certificate of merit
for his work with foreign students.

In addition to his duties as
director of the University's
sesquicentennial year. Mr. Willis
will serve as associate professor of
French.