34 Comments
Blame Canada
Almost as famous for the epic proportions of his beard as for his pedagogy, the chair of the Astronomy department and Frontiers of Science mastermind Professor David Helfand will be relocating to Canada. It was reported Monday in a local newspaper in a remarkably hand-wavey way that “Helfand is now on a long term leave of absence from Columbia, with zero responsibilities for the foreseeable future.” He’s given up the Big Apple for the town of Squamish, just north of Vancouver, home of the newly-founded Quest University. Helfand was one of the University’s Founding Tutors and has been acting as interim president since 2008.
Helfand will now be acting as the full-time head of Quest, which graduated its first class this April. According to The Chief, Squamish’s news website, Helfand feels more at home there then he ever did during his 33 years at Columbia. “I have been lecturing at Columbia for a third of a century,” said Helfand. “But I feel I only began truly teaching when I came to Quest.”
We’ll especially miss his killer moves.
Homecoming via Quest
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34 Comments
@Alum I must be getting old. I remember Helfand when he had bright red hair and a ponytail, not the white mane he has now. But moving to a colder climate makes evolutionary sense, since he’ll blend in with the snow.
@Anonymous I think you guys might like this http://frontiersofscience.ytmnd.com/. Love, me.
@that picture makes it look like his brain hath farted.
@Anonymous I actually liked my Frontiers sections with Helfand. Don’t know why everybody flips their shit over that class. Sit back, phone it in, bask in the easy A. You might even learn some cool shit.
@Please Get rid of Frontiers!!!
@Nerd Yo, Prezbo is going to be on NPR in like an hour.
@Please? Can we get rid of Frontiers now? It’s an embarrassment.
@I think It’s really unfortunate that we can’t recognize the value in teaching/learning methods different than our own. Have a friend at Quest who is more passionate and interesting than many I have met at Columbia.
@Anonymous if you would have payed attention in Frontiers then you would have know that is called a sample bias. I think it’s a commonly accepted trait of stupid people, that they are “super passionate” and “know a ton” about a few select things. In my experience, that is usually bullshit.
@Anonymous he probably just wants to smoke more reefer
@Anonymous santa claus is going back to northpole? well it is summer…
@Anonymous what an incredible beard
@A Blast from the Past http://bwog.com/2007/04/29/there-are-no-words/
@DUDE SEND this to Quest so they can put the photo in their brochures.
@hahaha this might be the greatest bwog comment ever
@Anonymous He basically implied half of his students in frontiers discussions were stupid. I’m glad he’s leaving if that’s his version of motivating his students to learn.
@Goodbye offender of repeat comments
@Goodbye Repeat offender of Socks and Sandals
@Sitting across from you at blossom Rami’s a loser
@Goodbye repeated offender of Socks and Sandals
@Methuseleh Actually, I’ve had a lot of tenured professors, especially in the Astrophysics department. Seriously though… Frontiers is a travesty, and you teach as well as you want to. Long live Father Frits!
@Twitch Can we get rid of FroSci now, please?
@LMAO That was funny, and i fucking agree. Too bad i graduated.
@Anonymous Please, dear god, yes. Good riddance to the silly bearded man.
@Anonymous not gonna lie, Quest (http://questu.ca/) sounds like a pretty awesome university.
also, bwog, in writing the title, were you trying to refer to helfand’s debate in the Veritas Forum, “Truth Beyond Science?” (http://youtu.be/jq_iougyc3E)
@Anonymous Hello Mr. Quest-University-Recruiter. Giving links to the school website? tsk tsk.
Go back to canada with your friend Dr. Hefland/Treebeard/Santa Claus
@Frontiers Lover “I have been lecturing at Columbia for a third of a century,” said Helfand. “But I feel I only began truly teaching when I came to Quest.”
Perhaps that’s because you taught Frontiers. Just a thought.
@Yeah I’d be ashamed of myself too if I was him.
@well “But I feel I only began truly teaching when I came to Quest.”
Thanks for letting us know you’ve been mailing it in for 30 years.
-Your Students
@Anonymous well obviously, very few tenured professors actually ‘teach’ at columbia. if you want great teachers you go to a liberal arts college
@Anonymous According to Wikipedia, Helfand was opposed to the tenure system at universities for just that reason.
Anyway, I think a lot of us will agree that it is a loss for the Columbia community, but godspeed in his future endeavors.
@Anonymous come on bwog. add http:// before links if they’re for external pages.
@Conor Fixed! Thanks.
@isn't that the guy from harry potter? or was it lord of the rings?