PITTSBURGH, Jan. 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- From Heidelberg to Pittsburgh, Rudolph H. Weingartner's life has been filled with the bustle of major colleges and universities and with very varied personal experiences. He tells of his days as a philosophy professor, department chairperson, dean and provost, husband and father in his new book, Mostly About Me: A Path Through Different Worlds (now available through 1stBooks).
As a young Jewish immigrant from Nazi Germany, Weingartner became an American while living in New York and serving in the U.S. Navy. After studying philosophy at Columbia University, he taught on Columbia's faculty and worked at Mortimer Adler's curious philosophical research institute in San Francisco. His academic appointments then took him to San Francisco State University, where he chaired the philosophy department, becoming a participant at the time that campus erupted in 1967. He then left San Francisco to chair the philosophy department at Vassar College and then turned to academic administration.
For 13 years, Weingartner served as dean of Northwestern University's College of Arts and Sciences and subsequently became provost of the University of Pittsburgh. He details his life in these positions and the rewarding and sometimes frustrating encounters of his administrative career.
The author gives an account of his experiences in studying, teaching and thinking philosophy, of his family life, of his relationship to his religion and his lifelong interest in and involvement with music and art. The book has a very large cast of characters, beginning with Weingartner's parents and details their life in Germany and as American immigrants; it tells the story of his wife and of her untimely death, as well as of his two children. In addition, many friends, colleagues and acquaintances make longer and shorter appearances in the book.
A well written autobiography that offers true, heartfelt accounts, as well as humor, Mostly About Me is the story of a man whose academic career and personal experiences have given him an interesting and varied life to reflect upon.
Weingartner is the author of numerous articles and five earlier books in philosophy and about academic administration, including the prize winning Undergraduate Education: Goals and Means and, most recently, The Moral Dimensions of Academic Administration. He currently sits on the board of the Pittsburgh Symphony.
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