Professor Edward Tillinghast

UNH Magazine was delighted to hear from readers who had memories triggered by recent articles.

“I was just reading UNH Magazine, summer 2024. I enjoyed the ‘Colorful Campus’ article on the last page, featuring vintage postcards of UNH buildings. My husband Kent and I are ’74 grads. My husband’s father, Dr. Gratton A. Stevenson, was a 1939 UNH grad and also a Hood House doctor in the 1970s. We have a set of six dinner plates that belonged to Kent’s father. We use them regularly for the two of us! Each plate is different, with a picture of a UNH building. We thought readers might enjoy seeing our family’s UNH treasure.”

— Jackie (Lessard) Stevenson ’74

A Durham memory with every meal: The Stevenson family enjoys a set of UNH plates regularly; a set is also on display in the Elliott Alumni Center on campus.

“Edward Tillinghast, may he rest in peace, got me through. He always had a kind word for every student and advice, if asked, about both careers and life. His sense of humor made any problem seem manageable. His classes were both interesting and entertaining and always resulted in my wanting to work as hard as possible to do the best that I could. I was sad to hear of his recent passing and am also glad that his spider collection is safe and sound at UVM with one of his former graduate students.”

— Rebecca Herman ’96

(read the original “Who Got You Through?” piece on campus mentors in the summer 2023 edition)

“I recently read the summer 2023 issue of UNH Magazine. The section on ‘Who Got You Through?’ got me thinking. My wife and I are both from Europe (Switzerland and England, respectively), and Durham was our first home in the U.S. We met when I took my first job as a teacher in the Anglo-American section of an international school in her hometown. Some American parents there suggested I apply for graduate school in physics in the U.S. With no knowledge of American colleges at the time, I randomly picked four universities from a copy of ‘Barron’s Book of U.S .Colleges.’ To my surprise, I was accepted at three of the four schools. I chose UNH primarily because it was closest to Boston; I thought If I didn’t like the U.S., a Boston‒London flight would be the cheapest way to get home. In 1965, as young, adventurous newlyweds, we took a Greyhound bus from NYC to Portsmouth and then a taxi to Durham, and moved into a student apartment in Forest Park. We were a bit lost in a new country, but people were so kind and helped us settle in. I started as a graduate assistant but the next year was accepted by Professor Ed Chupp as a research assistant in my second year. Chupp taught at UNH from 1962 until 2007. I worked in the field of beam-foil spectroscopy with Bill Dotchin. The small accelerator we used for our measurements was situated in the basement of DeMerritt Hall. Thanks to Professor Chupp and thanks to UNH, I was able to get a master’s in physics in 1968 and a Ph.D. in 1970. I received job offers in Edmonton, Canada, and Knoxville, Tennessee. I accepted the latter and joined the University of Tennessee faculty in April 1970, conducting my research at the nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I was elected fellow of the American Physical Society in 1991 and received an honorary doctorate from Gothenburg University in Sweden, where I collaborated for many years. I retired in 2007, after a very satisfying and productive career. I owe my success in the field of physics to my studies at UNH in the late 1960s under the supervision of Professor Chupp. I really appreciated this wonderful opportunity. My wife and I will never forget our very happy time in Durham and the rest of the state of New Hampshire. It was such a nice and memorable time in both our lives.”

— David Pegg ’68G ’70Ph.D.

“Thank you for the article about Karl’s. I especially appreciated the very original angle, exploring scientifically why we are all so fond of those memories and why they remain so vivid. First with my dorm-mates from Randall, then with my brothers from Theta Chi, I spent many evenings in the late 1980s crammed in the back of Karl’s truck. Big guy abused and a medium snotty was my standard order from which I never deviated. I think it cost $5.25. Clint Gordon ’90, a fraternity brother of mine, worked for Karl. As soon as the issue went out on social media, we discussed the cover photo and immediately laughed as we speculated what Karl would have said to someone eating snotties with a fork.”

— Don Taylor ’90 ’93G

(Read the original “Salt, Fat and Memories: The Karl’s Phenomenon” in the winter 2024 edition)

Editor’s note: We agree with Don that we took a little poetic license for the sake of the photo by using a utensil with snotties; everyone more likely remembers the real way you ate snotties: by hand, making a joyous mess with the gooey cheese sauce as you devoured an order.

“What a great issue of the magazine! I found myself resonating at several points. I frequented Karl’s, not as a regular because I couldn’t afford to, but when volleyball practice ended at 6 and the dining halls closed at 6:30 or we returned from a game after 6:30, Karl’s was the best way to get an affordable, tasty supper, especially if I had a lab at 7. In the 1975-76 school year, I took a children’s theatre class and we put on a production. The scenery folks painted several boxes as a centerpiece. The major one was a Cap’n Crunch cereal box. Makes me wonder if our professor knew about the UNH Cap’n Crunch connection (magazine.unh.edu/issue/winter-2024/#crunchtime). I have thought long and hard about some people on my floor in Hubbard who must have been food insecure before the school had any assistance for that (magazine.unh.edu/issue/winter-2024/hidden-hunger). I think of one student who made her own yogurt with milk classmates brought back [from the dining hall]. In fact, brown sugar, tea bags, raisins, salad, cottage cheese and cereal came back with folks. I had no idea … just thought she was saving money and being creative rather than buying a meal card. I am so glad the school has several avenues of response for folks now. As a pastor, I was very interested in the Extension mental health work; it is a natural fit (magazine.unh.edu/issue/winter-2024/a-growing-need). I am thankful the program has been developed AND that farmers are partaking of the resource. I have walked alongside older folks whose children want no part in farming and see the struggle they have with letting go of the land; it is to them a sacred trust they hold. Last thought: One food source I enjoyed in town was Weeks Ice Cream. Their ice cream and sundaes were great, and a hot dog with red pepper relish piled on was an inexpensive meal.”

— Rev. Marnie Nimick Silbert ’76

“Our favorite place to eat on campus has always been the Dairy Bar. And, believe it or not, I would say I enjoyed the food at Stillings Dining Hall when I lived at Smith Hall. They had delicious fresh fried doughnuts most mornings from the UNH Bake Shop, which was located in Stillings. I worked there as a student supervisor in the kitchen my junior and senior years — the food prep folks and cooks were nice, good cooks and cared about the students. Jane Griswold was an excellent food service director, in my eyes.”

— Jean ’69, with husband Terry Jones ’69

Bobby Wong ’77

“Thank you for recognizing a very special friend, Bobby Wong ’77. One night I remember we moved all his furniture and belongings into the first-floor bathroom in Engelhardt when he came back on a Sunday night without bringing food from his family’s restaurant for us. That’s why we were great roommates! Another roommate and I came from very simple homes and we didn’t have any spending money. But Bobby always had a $20 bill and he would share some of that with us for a hot pastrami and french fries from Karl’s truck in the Quad. So the recent issue of UNH Magazine brought back happy memories in many areas.”

— Norm Jones ’77

(Read Bobby Wong’s story in the “Recipe for Success” feature in the winter 2024 edition).

Email Editor-in-Chief Michelle Morrissey ’97 at alumni.editor@unh.edu.