Saying Good-Bye To A Distinguished Trio

By Mara Sassoon | Photo of Judith Chaffee by Pete Wishnok

At the end of the 2014­–2015 academic year, three professors retired after long careers during which they fostered interdepartmental collaborations, revolutionized BU’s cultural landscape, and developed programs that have impacted hundreds of students’ lives.

Judith Chaffee,
Associate Professor of Theatre (Movement)

Judith Chaffee had always been fascinated by the intentions behind actors’ motions, the “‘why’ behind their turns, and the passion behind their movements,” she says. She came to BU in 1974 as the dance director for the Department of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance; when CFA’s School of Theatre sought to incorporate more dance into its program, she joined the faculty to work with its young actors.

The 2011 recipient of the Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Chaffee says she owes a lot to her mentor, BU Professor Emeritus Joe Gifford, who had also taught movement for actors. “I’ve been lucky to pass on his insightful teachings about the importance of finding stillness, dropping in, and letting go of the ego to allow generosity and vulnerability,” she says.

Some of Chaffee’s favorite moments at BU involved partnerships, such as her work choreographing performances for the School of Music’s Opera Institute and the course she developed with Mark Stanley, an associate professor of theatre (lighting design), that involved collaborative explorations for dancers, designers, actors, and directors. The course, Design and Choreography: Experiments in Light and Movement, also provides material to BU’s annual light and dance performance, Aurora Borealis, which Chaffee helped launch in 2003.

She considers herself “fortunate to have worked with some of the best students and faculty in the country, in a program that embraces generosity and personal artistry.”

Ann Howard Jones,
Chair of Ensembles Oversight,
Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities

Ann Howard Jones established a symphonic chorus organization at BU shortly after she joined the School of Music faculty in 1993. As part of the organization, she conducted BU’s symphony orchestra and symphonic chorus in concerts at the prestigious Symphony Hall. Not only did the symphonic chorus spur an evolution of the music department, but it also “changed the culture of BU at large,” Jones says. “Suddenly the BU community had a place to go and watch such performances.”

The 2011 recipient of the American Choral Directors Association’s esteemed Robert Shaw Award, Jones credits BU for opening the door to conducting experiences she may not have found elsewhere, like working with Professor David Hoose, the director of orchestral activities. Hoose often allowed Jones to take the helm in performances. “It’s highly unusual for an orchestral conductor to step aside and let a choral conductor, like myself, step in,” she says.

Jones also cherishes what she calls the “aha moments” in the conducting seminar she taught at the School of Music. In one class, she invited a dancer to assist her students in freeing their movements and was surprised by the lesson’s success as her students began to move more fluidly.

“Teaching at BU reinforced what I know about how the conducting process works best,” she says, “but I also owe a lot of my own teaching success to the instrumental and vocal professors who train our students.”

Judith Simpson,
Director of Online Master of Arts in Art Education

In 1996, when Judith Simpson joined the School of Visual Arts faculty as an assistant professor in the art education program, she and Professor Emerita Janet Olson (’73) were the only faculty. “We not only taught the entire program that consisted of seven courses and seminars,” says Simpson, “we also did field supervision.”

Simpson says her students and colleagues made the hard work worthwhile. “Students at BU are creative, intelligent, and respectful. They are eager to succeed and inquisitive. That kind of student energizes the professor,” she says.

A high point for Simpson was working with six colleagues to write the textbook Creating Meaning Through Art: Teacher as Choice Maker (Pearson, 1997). The book reflects her belief that “making things is not what art education is about. Making meaning through art is.”

She carried this philosophy into her subsequent roles as the chair of the art education program and then as the director of the School of Visual Arts. After her term as director, she developed the online master of arts in art education program, which launched in 2008. Since then, Simpson has watched the program grow and expand its global presence. “It has been a total joy to teach so many different people from all over the world,” she says.