May 20, 2005: Volume 64, Number 8

College remembers 'ebullient' dean, consummate teacher

On a glorious afternoon on Thursday – the kind of day that Christie would have found perfect for taking her dog, Hector, for a walk around campus ­– the Union community filled Memorial Chapel to remember the vivacious dean of faculty who was a "teacher to her core."

Christina Sorum, whose personality Prof. Suzie Benack compared to bubbling water, died on Monday, May 16, following a heart attack three days before.

Her daughter, Eve, recalled her mother's wide-ranging intellectual interests and her excitement over meeting new faculty members and students. She often came home to announce, "I had the most interesting conversation today," Eve said.

President Roger Hull described her as "energetic and ebullient." Hull said he found in Christie, a classicist steeped in Greek and Roman mythology, a contemporary who joined him in making decisions using the lessons of the classics.

Joan Hinde Stewart, a close friend of the Sorum family and president of Hamilton College, described Christie's love for Union from the moment she joined the faculty. Fellow administrators Kimmo Rosenthal and Terry Weiner remarked that Christie somehow always found delight even in long administrative meetings.

Therese McCarty, professor of economics, recalled frequent lunches with her mentor, when they discussed more than teaching and the College: they shamelessly bragged about their daughters. Christie once gave a book to Therese's daughter, Helen, as a gentle attempt to expand her horizon beyond the Harry Potter series.

Some of the recollections were likely new to most of the nearly 1,000 people at the service. Christie, of Midwestern roots, was surprised when authorities at Wellesley College confiscated her rifle during freshman year, said her husband, Paul, who added, she was a good shot with a gun. Christie also had a clever way of "chasing" a group of teens from a hangout near her home, said McCarty. She brought them lemonade and cookies.

Sorum was a strong champion for Union's distinctive broad education, undergraduate research and international study.

She served the College in a variety of administrative capacities including department chair, and a member of the General Education Board, Faculty Review Board, Academic Affairs Council and numerous tenure and review committees.

A native of Jacksonville, Ill., Sorum graduated from Wellesley College with honors in Greek and received a Ph.D. from Brown University. She was a visiting instructor at Union in 1973-1974, became an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, and returned to Union in 1982 as an associate professor and chair of the Department of Classics. She became the Frank Bailey Professor in 1992. She was named dean of arts and sciences in 1994, and acting dean of faculty in 1999. She was named dean of faculty and vice president of academic affairs in 2000.

Memorial contributions may be made to the College, Planned Parenthood or a local animal protection center.

For a complete biography of Dean Sorum, visit: http://www.union.edu/N/DS/s.php?s=5387

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