The dinner, attended by about 130 people – including 13 Drinko Fellows, took place on the stage inside the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center on Marshall’s Huntington campus. Gould did not attend the dinner because of illness.
Dr. Chuck Somerville, dean of the College of Science and himself a Drinko Fellow, filled in for Gould as master of ceremonies. He praised Gould for an outstanding 47-year career at Marshall.
“What an amazing career,” Somerville said. “What an amazing man. Dr. Gould is above all else, and will always be known as a Son of Marshall.”
Somerville described Gould as “dignified, witty, charming, intelligent, accomplished, supportive, encouraging, a loyal friend and a scholar with fierce attention to detail.”
“Each one of these descriptors applies to a very small fraction of the people we might interact with on a day to day basis,” Somerville said. “When you start to string them together, the probability of all those descriptors applying to one person becomes vanishingly small. When you can describe a person that way, in all those ways, you know that they are special. It is right that they should be celebrated.
“Most of us know Dr. Alan Gould as the executive director of the John Deaver Drinko Academy, the person through whom we had the great pleasure of meeting John and Libby Drinko, the person who supported our research efforts and made us feel good about our work.”
Gould earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in history from Marshall University, and a Ph.D. in history from West Virginia University.
He has been a professor of history at Marshall University since 1969, and has served Marshall as the coordinator of the Regents B.A. program, the assistant to the vice president for academic affairs, the chair of the history department, the assistant to the president for special projects, the acting vice president for academic affairs, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts, the senior vice president, the provost, the interim president and the vice president for academic affairs.
Cutline: Thirteen Drinko Fellows were on hand Thursday during a dinner in which Dr. Alan Gould was made an honorary Drinko Fellow.