Glen W. Bowersock ’53

Bowersock, however, developed his passion for the classics locally, under the tutelage of Rivers’ Latin and ancient history teacher, Austin Chute.

“He was the most marvelous teacher. I consider him among the most important people in my life," Bowersock says. "He possessed humor, great knowledge, a generosity of spirit, and humility.

"When I graduated from Rivers," he adds, “he gave me a number of books that I still have in my library."

And his library continues to grow. Bowersock, whose studies have spanned the Roman Empire, the Greeks, the Arabian Near East, and the Byzantines, is the author of more than 250 articles and books on Greek , Roman, and Near Eastern history, as well as the classical tradition in western literature. His Roman Arabia and Hellenism in Late Antiquity are considered seminal works; Fiction as History from Nero to Julian explores the study of fictional pieces to gather details of historical events.

A professor of classics and history at Harvard for nearly 30 years, Bowersock chaired the department of the classics from 1972 to 1977 and was associate dean of the faculty of arts and sciences from 1977 to 1980. He has received honorary degrees from the University of Strasbourg and Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. Bowersock belongs to the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as a number of other prestigious institutions.