Shout out to Gerald Gill

I found out the other day that my college advisor Professor Gerald Gill passed away this summer. Dr. Gill was the reason I studied history in college and why I concentrated on American History, particularly African American History. As a freshman I took "U.S. in the 20th Century" taught by Gill. In a class of 60+ I was a bit intimidated to raise my hand and join the discussion. However, one brave day, I sheepishly put my hand up to ask a question. Dr. Gill called on me by name. Now, I had never said 'boo' to him previously, there was no reason he should have known who I was but he did. I remember leaving the classroom that day, saying 'goodbye' to Dr. Gill as if I had found a new best friend and deciding to major in history. From then on I sought out Gill's classes and my eyes were opened to parts of American History that I never knew about and would never have exposed to otherwise. My sophomore year I asked Gill to be my advisor; thankfully he accepted. The summer between my junior and senior year Dr. Gill got me an internship at WGBH (PBS affiliate in Boston) to do research on the documentary "Africans in America," a tremendous opportunity that I cherish to this day. Getting to know Dr. Gill it was pretty easy to figure out he was also a sports fan. I always found it humorous that on his office door he had a newspaper clipping with the headline something to the effect of "Gill scores 30 in Seattle win" (Kendall Gill would have been proud to hang on that door.) He was a terrific educator, motivator, and mentor. He will be missed.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2007/08/02/gerald_r_gill_at_59_was_professor_of_history_integral_part_of_tufts_campus/