In Memoriam
Albert G. Anderson, Jr.
The faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute notes with sorrow and great sense of loss the passing of our friend and colleague, Albert G. Anderson.
Al Anderson arrived at WPI in 1963 with a dual appointment as faculty member and Head Librarian. Al's mission was to create a new library system for the then-scattered departmental libraries and a small reading room in Alden Hall. With a generous gift from the Gordon Estate, Anderson was charged with overseeing the design and construction of a new library building. With imagination, competence, and good judgment, Al assured not only a good design and placement of the new building, but a concept that would influence the academic direction of WPI, a prelude to the broad educational reforms that would take place at this institution in the following decade.
Anderson's clear vision for a library at the core of the academic enterprise allowed him to keep the construction true to his design, assuring that every aspect would be of the highest quality and that funds would be available for continuous upkeep.
On October 28, 1967, the Gordon Library was dedicated and Columbia University poet Mark van Doren was invited to deliver the keynote address. In language worthy of a poet, van Doren noted the facility's unique facilities: a home for the College Computer Center, 24 hour study room, micro-form storage facilities, seminar rooms, and museum-quality display areas which Anderson had insisted upon and fought determinedly to include and retain.
In subsequent years, Al Anderson was in the background of operations at the new library. He continued to insist on an appropriate and quality operation. He was proudest of the superb staff, which he recruited, the fights for adequate funding, which he waged so successfully, the significant gifts, which he solicited, and the bringing of balance and breadth to the library's collections.
Many at WPI do not remember Al now, but all of us benefit from his legacy. Albert G. Anderson was one of the architects of the new WPI. Therefore, be it resolved that we, the members of the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, express our sincere gratitude and admiration for his dedication and service, that this resolution be inscribed on the records of the Institute as a memorial to our beloved colleague, and that a copy of this resolution be delivered to his family.