My first Publication 1926874721_Alumni_Magazine_June_2010 | Page 18

Issue 3, June 2010
do our best to always have travel plans
looking ahead. We continue to visit new
places and last year, while I was on an
approved sabbatical leave from my
university, we spent three months in Asia
(the picture on the Fox Glacier in New
Zealand comes from that trip) and two
other months in Europe.
The first enthusiasts - the ACS faculty in 1992 (missing on the picture Maria Angelova, Lilia
Kakaradova and Stefka Papazova)
so that makes your connection to
this school at least 20 years old, and
you are now vice-chair of the Board.
What would you say about your
experiences on the Board?
The Board is made up of a wonderful
collection of
very distinguished
professionals – women and men,
Americans and Bulgarians -- who
volunteer their time and energy and
expertise on behalf of the American
College. Their dedication to the purposes
of ACS and their tireless efforts to do
what they can to support it amazes
me. As you probably know, no one is
paid to be on the Board. In fact, Board
members are not reimbursed for their
expenses getting to and from various
meetings, including those held in New
York or Sofia. But beyond their financial
commitment, Board members care
deeply about the success of the College
and they are especially committed to
the best interests of the ACS students. I
have served on several different Boards
over the last few years but none has been
as engaging or as satisfying as the ACS
Board of Trustees.
What have you been up to since you
left Bulgaria in 1994? What are you
doing currently?
We settled in Washington D.C. after
returning to the States in 1994. Susan
works in the public schools of Northern
Virginia (just outside Washington) as a
Speech/ Language Pathologist. I have
been at George Washington University
(in the center of Washington) since our
return, serving in various positions in
the central university administration, as
a founding dean of a new college at the
university and, most recently, returned to
teaching full-time as a professor.
Mrs. Whitaker, your husband has
been coming back to ACS regularly
throughout the years in his capacity
as a Board member, but I believe
you had a longer period away from
ACS and Bulgaria. You attended the
graduation ceremony of the class
of 2009. What changes could you
register in ACS and Bulgaria as a
whole?
I was happy to see that the campus
looked very much the same. I know
there have been many changes in the
buildings and classrooms, but I am glad
that the overall feeling of the campus
has remained. Sofia itself is much
different – so many new malls, shops
and restaurants. The traffic jams feel very
familiar. But whatever happened to the
bear that used to prowl around with his
trainer near the Sheraton. And can you
still ride the bus for 6 stotinki?
What makes the two of you happy
these days?
We still love to travel. Nothing is more
depressing than a dusty passport so we
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What makes us the most happy, however,
is our three grandsons. Our daughter is
now an Assistant Professor of Micro-
biology at the University of Illinois. She
and her husband have two children, ages
3 and 1. We love to see them as often
as we can. Our son and his Norwegian
wife live in the Boston area and have a
one-year old son. They will be moving to
Norway this summer and so we will have
plenty of opportunities (actually needs)
to get to Scandinavia as often as we can.
So, side-trips to Bulgaria may be in the
offing.
What message or advice would you
offer to ACS alumni?
The easiest and most common answer
would be to ask graduates to be thankful
for their experiences at the College. That
is a message not only for alumni, but for
all of us who have benefitted from our
involvement with ACS. It is probably
true that ACS students would be stellar
academic achievers no matter where they
attended secondary school. Their success
is grounded in their innate abilities and
their motivation to reach their potential
and pursue their individual goals. What
ACS adds to this mix is a supportive
learning environment -- one where
individual students are encouraged
to explore new ideas, experience
new activities inside and outside the
classroom, encounter complex and
sometimes contradictory evidence on
important issues, and develop confidence
in themselves and respect for others,
even those with whom they disagree. The
College nurtures academic prowess, to
be sure. But, the special value of the ACS
experience is not fully captured by GPA
scores, university admissions successes
or academic contests won. It is in the
ways that ACS graduates think about
themselves, care about the complexities
of the global condition, and embrace
their responsibility to do their part to
make the world a little better place.
The interview was taken by Petia Ivanova ’97, Editor