English professor dies Tuesday after long battle with cancer
Professor Bill West, part-time faculty member in the English department at Syracuse University, died of complications from cancer Tuesday night at Upstate University Hospital.
Until last week, West was teaching classes in the Rene Crown University Honors Program. He taught HNR 240: Arts Without Borders and HNR 210: Theatre in Syracuse. He also taught classes in the English department, such as ETS 152: Interpretation of Drama.
Eric Holzwarth, deputy director of the honors program, sent an email to students and faculty in the honors program regarding West’s death.
‘Bill was a loyal and dedicated teacher in the Honors Program for many decades,’ Holzwarth said in the email. ‘We will miss him very much.’
West taught in the honors program for more than three decades, Holzwarth said. He said West also taught at Onondaga Community College and OASIS, an adult education program.
‘He taught all over the city and was remarkable for the breadth of knowledge he had about the arts in particular,’ Holzwarth said.
West had extensive knowledge of music, theatre and opera, he said. West also used to write art reviews for The Post-Standard.
‘It’s what kept him – he was struggling with cancer for most of this year – coming to work every day, and kept him getting up every morning, was his love of teaching and his students,’ Holzwarth said.
West had a master’s degree in geography, a master’s of philosophy in humanities and a doctorate in humanities, all of which he received from SU.
While reading student evaluations of West’s classes, Holzwarth said he found students had nothing but kind and positive things to say about the professor.
Ben Glidden, sophomore broadcast and digital journalism major, said he knew on the first day of his Interpretation of Drama class that West would be a dedicated professor.
‘He came into class on the first day and told us, ‘If you don’t love theatre and drama, then you should leave,” Glidden said. ‘Right then I knew that it was a guy who loves what he teaches.’
When West sat in his chair to give a lecture to the class, Glidden said it was as if the man whom he previously considered to be soft-spoken was on stage, giving a performance.
‘He told us he was having some trouble with the chemotherapy, but I just never thought he would lose that fight. He always seemed so optimistic and so positive about it,’ Glidden said.
Brigid Demko, freshman advertising major in West’s Interpretation of Drama class, said West was one of the most intelligent professors she has ever had. She said she loved the way West used personal anecdotes from his own life to keep his lectures from being too stiff.
Demko said one of her favorite memories of West, who was British, was when he talked about sending love letters on Valentine’s Day. She said West told the class that in England, valentines aren’t signed. He would sign his with a compass marked with north, south and east, but leave a question mark where the West should have been.
Early in the course, Demko said West told students he might not have as much energy as he used to, but was still dedicated to teaching the class he loved.
‘I just think it’s amazing how, up until a week ago, he was in the classroom, still teaching,’ Demko said.
Although class won’t be the same without West, Demko said the students will complete the remainder of the work for the semester.
Demko said: ‘We have one play left we’re currently reading in class and the play we’re reading out of class, and I definitely know those kids are going to appreciate those works as best they can to honor Professor West.’
A funeral mass will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral at 310 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.
—Staff writer Meredith Newman contributed reporting to this article.
Published on April 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm
