Bill Wilson Celebrates 20 Years at Wiess With His ‘Family’

Bill Wilson Celebrates 20 Years at Wiess With His ‘Family’

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Alum Pledges $100,000 Gift
in Wilson’s Honor
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BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff
April 8, 1999

Bill Wilson, professor of electrical and computational engineering, has entered
his 20th year as a Wiess resident associate, and his friends decided to celebrate.
They tossed a surprise party on the grounds of Wiess College immediately after
Beer Bike on March 27.

On a gorgeous afternoon, more than 250 people drank beer, ate barbecue and
honored the man called "Dr. Bill." Wiess alumni from across the country
came to congratulate Wilson and thank him for supporting and mentoring them
during their Rice years. Wilson says he was "a little overwhelmed"
by the number of alumni who traveled so far.

Keith Meehan ’81, a retired Silicon Valley engineering manager who flew in
from Los Gatos, Calif., says his admiration for Wilson has grown over the years,
now that he’s gained some perspective. "You look back on your life and
some people stand out," Meehan says. "He was a role model, and I didn’t
even know it at the time."

During the party it was announced that, in honor of Wilson’s 20th anniversary
at Wiess, Meehan pledged a $100,000 gift to be used to match additional gifts
to Wiess College. The money will be used for a project selected by Wilson as
most appropriate.

As a student, Meehan was active in Wiess’ Table Top Theater and recalls that
Wilson regularly volunteered, often doing "the dirty jobs." Notes
Wilson: "I’ve always believed that if you want to know someone you’ve got
to get involved."

Jim Wooten ’81 flew in from Buffalo, N.Y. A professor at the University at
Buffalo Law School, Wooten says that now that he is a teacher, he is even more
impressed by Wilson’s level of dedication to Wiess residents. For a professor
who must teach and research, Wooten says, "time is so scarce and valuable.
Now I know how much it was worth."

Some at the party, such as Rice Board of Trustees member J.D. "Bucky"
Allshouse ’71, were Wiess residents before Wilson became an R.A. but they still
wanted to be there to honor him.

Notes Sue Gauthier, Wiess College coordinator, "The general feeling is:
Dr. Bill is Wiess."

"People like him are the backbone of the college system–he does so much
behind the scenes," says Diane Tate ’95, who describes Wilson as "extremely
unpretentious, giving, encouraging, fair and nonjudgmental."

On the Wiess walls surrounding the picnic grounds were tributes from Wiess
alumni. Noted Jeremy Hart ’95: "One of [Wilson’s] hobbies was recording
bands of Rice students and alumni, and he recorded the band I’m in three times.
… Dr. Bill hauled his huge pile of recording equipment up three flights of
stairs to sit in our broiling-hot little room for hours on end, listening to
the band playing at full volume [and not particularly well, I might add]."

John Hutchinson, associate professor of chemistry and master of Wiess, has
seen Wilson make a positive impact on every aspect of student life: "Bill
has the extraordinary capacity to support students in every possible way that
a professor might, including as an outstanding teacher, a research supervisor,
an academic adviser, an organizer, a co-worker, an assistant, a mentor, a counselor
and a friend. The number of students he has influenced through his work with
student organizations is staggering. Rice University and Wiess College would
not be the great student institutions that they are if not for Bill Wilson."

Not all of Wilson’s friends could make the event. Simone Redrupp-Durand ’86
expressed her gratitude in a letter from Paris: "You were to me the ‘open-minded,
tolerant’ adult: approachable and genuinely interested in his students. Your
role became even more crucial during the first Wiess years when the ‘boy’s clubs’
finally opened up to become coed and allowed us to join your big Wiess family."

The idea for the party was conceived by Wiess Master Paula Hutchinson, who
also did the planning and letter writing to alums around the world. College
Coordinator Gauthier was responsible for much of the organizational legwork
and helped pull everything together.

Wilson says he has no idea why he’s been a R.A. for so long, but will continue
for "as long as it stays fun." Noting that he doesn’t have a wife
or children, Wilson says, "This is my family. These are my kids."

And they’re his friends. One of Wooten’s favorite Rice memories occurred at
the end of his senior year. Just days before commencement, Wooten was in a reflective
mood: "It was the end of your college career," he says, "and
you’d worked so hard."

It was time to kick back. Wooten bought a case of Lone Star longnecks for himself
and a few of his Wiess pals, including Dr. Bill. They propped their feet on
a balcony and just basked in the moment, while listening to music–Dr. Bill’s
favorite tapes. That, too, was a beautiful day.