JAMES L. CULLATHER, a 1940 Notre Dame graduate
and the long-time accounting professor whose writing wit defied
the stereotype of an accountant as a colorless bean counter, died
in April 2004 at age 85. He had retired in 1989 after 37 years
on the faculty. Cullather arrived at the business school as an
accomplished academic in 1952, a period when Notre Dame's accounting
instructors were all practitioners. Not only had he never worked
as CPA, but he held a doctorate in economics. Cullather taught
in a field dominated by numbers and was always reserved in person,
but former colleagues on the accountancy faculty recall him affectionately
and admiringly as a "man of words." A regular contributor to the
Jesuit magazine America, among other publications, he
also co-founded the college's lively ethics newsletter Value
Lines, still in publication. These were all notable achievements,
but better remembered perhaps are the many letters, articles and
even poems he would write filled with keen observations and humorous
musings about everyday life: TV anchors who talked of stories
just ahead that didn't arrive for 20 minutes; Band-Aids advertised
as skin-colored that didn't match the skin of black people. He
wondered whether being a good Catholic required one to purchase
St. Joseph's brand aspirin. When preparing to teach an intermediate-level
accountancy course, the instructor typically reads the textbook
ahead of time. Cullather, it is said, would read all the texts
available for that course and then inventory the inconsistencies
among them. Whether it was a letter to a company or an op-ed in
the South Bend Tribune, his missives were never venomous
but playful and seasoned with subtle humor. As a friend puts it,
"He wrote not with a tongue in his cheek but with a twinkle in
his eye."
ALBERT H. LeMAY, a beloved professor of literature,
primarily Spanish and Latin American, who became known as "Mr.
Kellogg" as program coordinator for the Helen Kellogg Institute
for International Studies during most of the institute's existence,
died in December 2003 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
He was 67. LeMay taught at Notre Dame from 1973 to 1982, at Saint
Mary's from 1982-84, and then returned to Notre Dame, where he
also became program coordinator for the then 2-year-old Kellogg
Institute. After retiring from that position in 1999, he directed
Notre Dame's study-abroad program in Puebla, Mexico, which he
helped establish, until May of last year. LeMay's ancestors were
French-Canadian, and he often spoke French while growing up in
Woonsocket, a heavily French-Canadian wool mill town in northern
Rhode Island. While a student at Providence, he continued to focus
on French until a priest friend recommended he try Spanish. LeMay
was well-known for always wanting to make people feel at home,
especially scholars visiting from foreign countries. A warm, nurturing
teacher, he reached out to Latino youth and migrant workers in
and around South Bend as an outgrowth of his commitment to social
justice. His 19 years as a commissioner of the South Bend Housing
Authority earned him a Key to the City from the mayor's office.
A Kellogg Institute summer research grant is named in his honor.
MICHAEL A. WADSWORTH, a 1966 Notre Dame graduate
and the Renaissance man of Notre Dame athletic directors, died
of bone cancer in April 2004 at age 60. The picture of robust
health during his time in the Joyce Center, he had faced serious
health problems in recent years, including successful treatment
for bladder cancer last year. He received a kidney transplant
last November from his wife, Bernadette, who survives. Wadsworth's
1995-2000 tenure as athletic director saw many laudable achievements
and some disappointments. The University entered the Big East
Conference in most sports, Notre Dame Stadium was expanded by
20,000 seats, and the lucrative exclusive-rights contract with
NBC Sports to broadcast Irish home football games was extended.
He was more directly responsible for expanding opportunities for
women athletes, and he played a principal role in negotiating
the University's place in football's Bowl Championship Series.
It was also during Wadsworth's tenure that Bob Davie replaced
Lou Holtz as football coach, that the University discussed joining
the Big Ten (and giving up independence in football), and Notre
Dame athletics endured a series of embarrassments. If sportswriters
and other outsiders faulted his performance, he enjoyed great
respect from those around him. He insisted on meticulous planning,
colleagues say, but more than that he was always a"stand-up guy"
in terms of accepting responsibility for problems. Wadsworth came
to work at his alma mater immediately after representing his native
Canada for five years as ambassador to Ireland. He had worked
previously as a senior executive in the financial services and
manufacturing industries, a trial and appellate lawyer, a radio
and television sportscaster, and a newspaper sports columnist.
He attended Notre Dame on a football scholarship and, despite
nagging knee injuries, won a monogram as a defensive tackle in
1964. His father had been a great player in the Canadian Football
League. The son won the CFL's rookie-of-the-year award and played
until 1970. A football career seemed an impossibility in his youth
as at age 6 he spent six weeks in a hospital fighting for his
life against infections in both kidneys. Doctors predicted he
would always be frail. He earned his law degree while playing
in the CFL and after stepping down at Notre Dame worked as an
arbitrator and mediator for a law firm in Toronto.
(July 2004)
