Colby Mourns Passing of Four Faculty
The Colby community recently noted the passing of four retired faculty members whose careers spanned more than 50 years and whose influence is preserved by alumni who still credit them for their success.
Norman D. Palmer '30, L.H.D., internationally known political scientist, historian and writer and Colby professor, died February 21, 1996, in Seattle, Wash., at 86. Recognized for more than half a century for his knowledge of the governments and cultures of South Asia and Korea--his accomplishments fill an entire column in Who's Who in America--he was a native of Hinckley, Maine, where he attended the Good Will-Hinckley School. At the College he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, majored in history, graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received an M.A. in history and international relations from Yale University in 1932 and a Ph.D. in 1936. He taught history and political science at Colby from 1933 to 1947, although he spent the war years 1942-46 as an air combat intelligence officer in the Pacific.
For the next 34 years he taught at the University of Pennsylvania, where he chaired both the political science and international relations departments. Throughout his career he traveled extensively, teaching and researching in universities. His journeys to more than 50 countries included 12 visits to Africa and a score to Asia, and his teaching positions at more than a dozen institutions around the world included four appointments at the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea, when he was in his 80s. In one year he was a Guggenheim Fellow, a research fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies. He wrote two dozen books on international subjects, including three after his retirement to Washington state in 1982. In recent years he taught Elderhostel courses in Washington, where his keen observations on political systems of the Pacific Rim, contemporary India and U.S. policy toward China and India led his local community to honor him in 1992 as Citizen of the Year.
He was a member of the board of directors and secretary of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, president of the National Council on Asian Affairs, chair of the Friends of India Committee and president of the International Studies Association. Colby awarded him an L.H.D. in 1955 for his work as a Fulbright professor in India, and in 1980 he delivered the Boardman address on the occasion of his 50th reunion. He was predeceased by his brother, Albert Palmer '30, former chair of the Colby Board of Trustees. He is survived by his wife, Gurina, his daughter, his sister, Mary Palmer Mills '32, his nephew, David Palmer '57, stepsons and stepdaughters, a granddaughter and many great-grandchildren.
Clifford Osborne, D.D. '49, retired Colby chaplain and professor emeritus of religion, died May 1, 1996, in Naples, Fla., at 95. He was born in London, England, and served in the Royal Navy during World War I. After taking an honors degree in philosophy at London University and graduating from Richmond Divinity School, he served Methodist pastorates in New York and Maine before joining the Pleasant Street Methodist Church in Waterville. He was appointed chaplain at the College in 1950 and was professor of religion when he retired in 1965. A founder of the Maine Council of Churches, he broadcast its Sunday morning programs for several years and was the first Maine clergyman to be selected as a preacher on CBS radio's "Church of the Air." His book, The Religion of John Burroughs, was published in 1929. Predeceased by his wife of 67 years, Beryl, he is survived by his son, Timothy Osborne '48, his daughter, Mavis Lee, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Alice Pattee Comparetti, emeritus professor of English, died April 7, 1996, in Tempe, Ariz., at 88. She joined the Colby faculty in 1936, the year she completed her Ph.D. at Cornell University. She became an associate professor in 1953 and a full professor in 1961. Her book The White Doe of Rylstrom remains an authoritative critical evaluation of a poem by Wordsworth, and Gregory's Angels, an adventure novel for children, was lauded for its accurate portrayal of the cultural and social history of sixth-century England. On the old campus as well as the new, she taught both major figures and general courses in literature and composition. When she retired, former chair of the department Alfred K. Chapman '25 wrote, "the College is losing a fine scholarly mind and a conscientious, devoted teacher." She is survived by her husband of 58 years, professor emeritus of music Ermanno Comparetti, and by a son and daughter.
George Douglas Maier, professor emeritus of chemistry, died of lung cancer on March 12, 1996, in Chicago, Ill., at 65. He was born in Chicago, graduated from Cornell College with a B.A. in chemistry and received his master's and Ph.D. from Iowa State University. He came to the College in 1965 and became a full professor in 1983. Over the course of his 20-year Colby career he taught a range of courses, from environmental biochemistry for nonscience majors to upper-level biochemistry. After retiring in 1986, he continued to do biochemical research in various laboratories in Chicago and enjoyed ongoing relationships with former students; many honored him by attributing their success in graduate schools and in their careers to his teaching of biochemistry at the College. He is survived by his parents.