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Sewanee sponsors study of William Pollard's legacy in science, theology & education
By: Courtland Randall
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A project to extend the contributions of William G. Pollard, Physicist, Educator and Priest who died in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1989 has been undertaken by The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The goal of the project is to influence students in science, engineering, and medicine to broaden their knowledge and perceptions in the philosophical, religious and cultural realms, rather than to focus narrowly in their chosen technical fields. The model of Pollard's life suggests that a broad perspective can enhance effectiveness in all walks of life including scientific and technical work. Like John Polkinghorne and Arthur Peacocke, outstanding Anglican priest-scientists, Pollard leaped boundaries with nimbleness available to anyone who enjoys and comprehends life's quests. When sharp focus was required for a task, whether technical, educational or pastoral, Pollard did so without conflict with other roles and duties. His life revealed no inherent conflict among firm commitments to scientific rigor, educational effectiveness, and deep religious faith. He made lasting contributions to science, the academic excellence of hundreds of institutions, and the multi-disciplined search for a contemporary spirituality. He is a modern, high-tech renaissance man whose life needs to be better known, appreciated and emulated.
Work centers at the School of Theology at Sewanee under the direction of Courtland Randall, who knew and worked with Pollard for 20 years in Oak Ridge. The project commenced with a festschrift for Pollard in March 1999, in Oak Ridge, attended by 35 friends and colleagues of Pollard's, including Alvin Weinberg, former director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, several of his research associates, past and present members of Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU, the organization Pollard founded and directed), and Oak Ridge citizens. Important contributions to the meeting were made by Pollard acquaintances, including Robert Hughes, Professor of Divinity at the School of Theology at Sewanee, and Robert J. Schneider, Professor of General Studies at Berea College. The meeting was opened by Ronald Townsend, President of ORAU, who committed to advance the educational and scientific work begun by Pollard in the late 1940s. Alvin Weinberg recounted examples of Pollard's exceptional effectiveness in many walks of life. Hughes and Schneider, who had encountered Pollard in religious activities, added insights as to the importance of his work in that realm. William Wilcox, Curator of a Pollard collection at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Oak Ridge, spoke of his pastoral services to that parish as deacon and rector beginning in the early 1950s.
Several Sewanee faculty and administrators had known Pollard through his educational and religious work throughout the region, including the Reverend Robert Hughes, Norma and Olin Mills Professor of Divinity; The Very Reverend Guy Fitch Lytle, Dean of the Sewanee School of Theology; and Vice Chancellor Joel Cunningham. Pollard loved the Sewanee campus, which is not far from Oak Ridge. He lectured, preached, and taught there over a period of 30 years or more. He was a Sewanee trustee and an honored commencement speaker. Typical of his influence is a passing observation by Joel Cunningham. Pollard's educational and religious activities at Sewanee had occurred before Cunningham's rise to a position of educational leadership in the south. But growing up in Oak Ridge, he was awed by the actions and words of his neighbor, Bill Pollard. "It is quite possible" he said to Dean Lytle and Randall during a meeting in August, "that I would not be here in this position at Sewanee were it not for the living example of Pollard."
A funding operation has begun to support ongoing outreach in Pollard's name, building upon his own work in science, education, and religion. Initial funds have been provided by ORAU to begin work on a history of Pollard's influence upon the rise of science in a hundred or more educational institutions and other entities in the U.S. southern states. Plans are underway for several writings dealing with Pollard's life and contributions, a web page for technical students, a TV mini-series, college short courses on ethics, and a dramatic play. Contributions for the Pollard Project will be gratefully accepted. Make out checks to the University of the South, with a notation "for the Pollard Project," and mail them to Sewanee, TN 37375. For further information, contact research fellow Courtland Randall.
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