From Student to Senior Tutor

Imagine this. You are a senior at Currier House on your way to meet your new acting senior tutor. Expecting a grey-haired, bespectacled professor, you open the door--and find your ex-section leader from Chem 5. Don't laugh, it could happen.

Ethan S. Simon '85, a third-year graduate student in Chemistry, was named to that very post this summer after Senior Tutor Elizabeth N. Goodenough took a leave for the fall term, said Currier House Master Gregory Nagy.

Davidson said Goodenough had planned to spend the fall semester in Scotland. But when the trip fell through, she decided to remain in Cambridge.

Although Simon only recently graduated from Harvard, he was an obvious choice for the job because of his previous experience working with students, Nagy said.

"He is not the typical senior tutor type in being young, but he was a very strong choice of the House and my contacts with him were extremely positive," said Dean of the College Fred L. Jewett '57. Jewett added that since the job is only for the fall semester, Simon's age had little to do with his decision.

"This was a situation where the Dean, Masters, tutors and students all felt really strongly about him," Nagy said. "It was a real consensus."

Simon is not the only recent alumnus to become an acting senior tutor. Stephen J. Szaraz '83, in his second year as acting senior tutor for Eliot House, said he does not believe that age is necessarily an accurate measurement of competence.

"Once the year begins, the job is so diverse that you don't have any time to think about it," Szaraz said. "I haven't encountered any problems yet."

"One of the reasons I think he was picked was because the former senior tutor wanted him," said Currier House Co-Master Holly M. Davidson. "I have very good faith in him."

Simon was a resident scholar at Currier House last year and had been selected last spring to be a House tutor for this year, Nagy said. As an undergraduate, Simon lived in Lowell House and was the head teaching fellow for Chemistry 5, 7, and 27.

George M. Whitesides '60, Simon's research advisor, described Simon as a smart student who enjoyed teaching classes and working with undergraduates. "He has a real understanding for teaching and loves doing it," Whitesides said.

Students in Currier House said that they also considered Simon a logical candidate for the job despite his relatively recent graduation.

"He just got out of school so he knows what the needs of the students are," said Cheryl D. Archbald '90. "He has been very helpful and considerate."

"He is a good person and great with students," said Denise L. Littlejohn '88, adding that "he is a definite improvement" over Goodenough.

"I think we have a terrific entering sophomore class," said Simon. "The new Masters have a lot of good ideas so I know we'll have a good year."