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As a scholar and professor, Westling specialized in the histories of Medieval Europe and Tudor England, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, early modern philosophy and political theory, the development of the European state system, and the history and contemporary state of higher education.
Jan 21, 2021 · Jon Westling, a motorcycle-riding scholar of medieval European history, onetime Freedom Rider, and president emeritus of Boston University, died last week at age 77.
- Extraordinary Patience
- Succeeding Silber
- A Gift For Friendship
- Opting For “Inner Retirement”
Any account of Westling’s career has to be placed squarely in the context of Silber’s extraordinary and extraordinarily unorthodox years as leader of Boston University. Silber, who had been the dean at the University of Texas, Austin, was appointed BU’s president in 1971. He had earned a reputation in Texas as a liberal firebrand, but once at BU, S...
When Silber ran for governor of Massachusetts as the Democratic nominee in 1990, Westling served as president ad interim. After losing that race, Silber returned to BU, but decided to retire as president in 1996, at which point Westling was selected as his successor. The idea was to preserve Silber’s legacy with a less tempestuous form of governanc...
Westling had the temperament to make such decisions and to abide by them despite the recriminations that were sure to follow. It earned him enduring enmity in some quarters, and one long campaign by the Faculty Council to discredit him. He answered the Faculty Council’s charges succinctly and continued without hesitation his usual work. This might ...
Westling remains for me a mystery. I think I knew him better than most, but I couldn’t fathom his self-erasure. A man of remarkable talents and among the best writers I have ever met, he steadfastly refused to publish essays or to write books. He would write for others in fluent and often beautiful prose, but asked to write in his own voice, he wou...
Jan 19, 2021 · It is with great sadness that the Department of History must announce that Professor and President Emeritus Jon Westling has died, his family reports. Professor Westling served as President of the University from 1996 to 2002, after which he joined the History Department.
Feb 9, 2021 · WESTLING, Jon Who served as president of Boston University from 1996 to 2002, died peacefully at his home on January 15, 2021. He was 78. Friends and colleagues remember him as a...
Jon Westling | History. Professor of History and Humanities; President of Boston University Emeritus. History of medieval Europe, Tudor England, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, early modern philosophy and political theory, the development of the European state system, the history and contemporary state of higher education.
Feb 26, 2021 · A former Rhodes scholar who studied medieval history at Oxford University in England, Jon Westling was an avid motorcycle rider whose appreciation for culture wasn’t confined to works from past...
