A Tribute to Professor John Rassias: His Gift of Language to Generations of Students

I learned today that Professor John Rassias had passed away.  A legend.  A remarkable teacher.  Let me explain.

I was at Dartmouth College in its first year of co-education -- 1972.  You can imagine what the place was like.  I had a dual major (English and Spanish Literature). Despite my newness at Dartmouth and the newness of women on campus, John Rassias asked if I would like to "try out" to be one of his language teaching assistants (in Spanish in my case).  I did, I was selected, and I learned from a master.

He trained his teaching assistants in his rapid fire method of language acquisition by teaching us Greek -- his native tongue as I recall.  If pressed, I could recite the first Greek phrase I learned from him.  That training was and still is the best teacher training in which I ever participated.

He was the kind of professor one imagines in one's dreams -- smart, dynamic, engaged, engaging, receptive, stunningly good and deeply willing to do what it took for the TA's and the students to succeed.  I taught for him for at least three or four semesters, including through the summer months.  I learned about vastly more than teaching Spanish (and my Spanish improved immeasurably by the by).  I learned about classroom interaction; I learned about enabling learning in others; I listened to a stellar teacher. Watching and speaking with Professor Rassias was like witnessing an Energizer bunny.

I continued to follow his career after I graduated and he followed mine.  He never thought I should go to law school although he graciously wrote a wonderful letter of recommendation.  I know he knew I became a professor and he might have known I became a college president.  I hope he knew how he influenced a generation (or two to three) of students and TAs and forever gave them the gift of another language and the gift of a dynamic, utterly out-of-the-mold, instructor.

He will be deeply missed but there are literally decades of students and TAs who learned the "Rassias" way and are and forever will be disciples in the best sense of the word. Indeed, I often meet folks of different ages in various settings who learned the "Rassias" way, and we knowingly share our experiences with warmth.  We connect to each other through Professor Rassias.

Seeing his obituary today in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/us/john-rassias-who-pioneered-foreign-language-teaching-dies-at-90.html and https://www.wsj.com/articles/john-rassias-1449446634?mg=id-wsj, reminded me that while time passes, excellence remains.  So do memories.  

Usted fue un professor magnifico, siempre en mi vida.