John Silber
Encyclopedia
John Robert Silber is an American
academician
and former candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996 he was President of Boston University
and from 1996 to 2003 Chancellor
of the University. Since 2003 he has been its President Emeritus
. In 1990, Silber took a leave of absence from the University to run for political office. He won the Democratic
primary
as candidate for governor of Massachusetts
in the 1990 election
. He lost the general election to the moderate Republican
William Weld
, who won by 38,000 votes.
Silber was trained in and taught philosophy
. He has written two books. The first, Straight Shooting, is a social, political, and moral commentary on issues in that impact modern American life. The second, Architecture of the Absurd is a 128-page assessment of the work of contemporary iconic architects.
, the second son of Paul G. Silber, a German
Jewish immigrant architect, and Jewell Joslin Silber, an elementary school teacher. His father's architectural practice collapsed during the Great Depression
.
At Trinity University
in San Antonio, Silber double-majored in fine arts and philosophy. In the fall of 1943, as a freshman at Trinity, he met a sophomore named Kathryn Underwood, daughter of farmers from Normanna, Texas
. The couple were engaged in January 1946 and married on July 12, 1947. Silber graduated summa cum laude from Trinity in June 1947 and married Miss Underwood on July 12, 1947, shortly after graduation. They had eight children, one son and six daughters by birth and one son by adoption. Their first-born son and daughter were born before 1955. Five more daughters were born over the next eleven years. Their first-born son, David Silber, died of AIDS
at age 41 at their home in December 1994.
Silber received his M.A. in 1952 and worked first as a teaching assistant and then as an instructor while pursuing a doctoral degree. Peter H. Hare, Philosophy Professor Emeritus, at SUNY State University of New York at Buffalo remembers Silber as a teaching assistant at Yale
in the mid-1950s while Hare was still an undergraduate. Hare wrote, "George Schrader was the lecturer in the introductory course where John Silber was the TA leading my discussion section. Silber, a rabid Kantian, was the person with whom I had my first heated philosophical arguments as an adult."
Silber's first faculty job was at University of Texas at Austin
where he chaired the Philosophy department from 1962-1967. Larry Hickman, Director, Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illinois University
at Carbondale
recalls his time as a student in philosophy at UT. "The department chairs during those years, John Silber and Irwin C. Lieb, were busy using Texas oil money to collect the very best faculty and graduate students they could find."
While at UT Silber founded the Texas society to abolish capital punishment.
In 1967, Silber became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UT. Three years later, in a widely publicized firing, Silber was removed as Dean in 1970 by the strong-willed UT Regents Chairman Frank Craig Erwin, Jr..
Silber left the University of Texas at Austin
in 1971.
to serve as head of the Massachusetts Board of Education
.
Under Silber, Boston University increased in size but questions about his leadership style caused splits among faculty and alumni. According to Perspectives Online, the publication of the American Historical Association
, Fritz K. Ringer held the presidency of the Boston University chapter of the American Association of University Professors
(AAUP) for eight years. "Serving at a time when the BU president (Silber) was running roughshod over faculty rights, Fritz Ringer bravely and vigorously championed the principles of academic freedom."
He remained president until 1989, when he took a leave of absence to run for governor of Massachusetts as a Democrat. He returned to BU after losing to William Weld.
In 2002, Silber ordered that a B.U.-affiliated high school academy disband its gay-straight alliance
, a student club that staged demonstrations to publicize the deleterious effects of homophobia
. Silber dismissed the stated purpose of the club -- to serve as a support group for gay students and to promote tolerance and understanding between gay and straight students -- accusing the club of being a vehicle for "homosexual recruitment." Silber denounced the group for "evangelism" and "homosexual militancy" with the purpose of promoting gay sex.
Among Silber's recruits to the Boston University faculty were the author Saul Bellow
and Elie Wiesel
, writer and concentration camp survivor. Silber possessed special sensitivity toward Jewish people, which was heightened while he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Bonn, West Germany. It was there he learned his father's side of the family was Jewish and that his aunt had been killed at Auschwitz. His father had never said anything about it.
The 1970s marked a period of constant tension at Boston University. The president accused the faculty of mediocrity and the students of fostering anarchy, and they, in turn, accused him of tyrannical rule. Essentially, in response to the Silber administration, the faculty organized a union in 1974 and the following year voted to affiliate with the American Association of University Professors. The administration would not negotiate with the union, and in 1976 the refusal was challenged in a lawsuit. Two-thirds of the faculty and deans demanded the board of trustees fire Silber. The board refused. In 1978 the courts decided in favor of the AAUP position and Boston University was forced to negotiate. The faculty conducted a brief strike in 1979 which was followed by a clerical workers' walkout in which several faculty members refused to cross the picket line. Silber charged five of these faculty members with negligence and moved to have them disciplined. At that point faculty members throughout Boston signed a petition to have Silber removed. In 1984 the courts ruled that the local AAUP chapter could not engage in collective bargaining.
Silber's popularity and support rose during the 1980s. Boston University had improved its campus, vastly increased its endowment, and attracted a blue-chip faculty. His support among alumni and friends of the university was high, as evidenced by financial and other support given to B.U. Silber was a welcomed guest at the White House during both the Reagan and Bush administrations and they, in turn, were commencement speakers and recipients of Boston University honors.
. He advocated integration
at the University of Texas
and promoted Operation Head Start, an early education program for preschoolers.
In 1990
Silber ran for Governor of Massachusetts
as a Democrat
. His outsider status as well as his outspoken and combative style were at first seen as advantages in a year in which voters were disenchanted with the Democratic Party establishment. As the Democratic nominee, Silber faced Republican
William Weld
. Silber's angry personality, which appalled many voters, coupled with Weld's socially liberal views helped Weld in the race. During the gubernatorial race, Silber regularly overreacted to questions from the press. These overreactions came to be known as "Silber shockers". On the campaign trail he called Massachusetts a "welfare magnet" and proposed cutting off benefits for unmarried mothers who have a second child while still on public aid. He questioned saving the lives of terminally ill elderly people, quoting Shakespeare and saying that "when you've had a long life and you're ripe, then it's time to go." He said that the feminist Gloria Steinem
, the black Muslim leader, Louis Farrakhan
, and white supremacists are "the kind of people I wouldn't appoint as judges." In a key interview late in the campaign, Silber was asked by WCVB-TV
newscaster Natalie Jacobson
to name his weaknesses, and he lost his composure and snarled back that finding his weaknesses was her job, and he did not need to list them for her. After this performance, Silber's poll numbers declined rapidly. Ultimately, Weld was able to hold on to a significant portion of the Republican base while appealing to large numbers of Democrats and left-of-center independents, enabling him to defeat Silber by four points. Weld became the first Republican to serve as governor since 1974.
Straight Shooting is part autobiography and partly a statement of Silber's concern that the United States
has experienced a decline in moral and spiritual values traceable to excessive avarice and materialism. He also faults society with excessive reliance on litigation to settle disputes.
Architecture of the Absurd discusses Silber's view that certain celebrity architects frequently fail to meet the needs of their clients because they consider themselves primarily sculptors and do not adequately consider financial constraints, the physical needs of building occupants or the urban environment. He is critical of architects Josep Lluís Sert
, Le Corbusier
, Frank Gehry
, Daniel Libeskind
and Steven Holl
. One example cited by Silber is Le Corbusier's megalomaniacal 1930s plan for Algiers
, which called for the demolition of the entire city. A more recent example is Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall
which, before it was modified at additional expense, made rooms of nearby condominiums unbearably warm causing their air-conditioning costs to skyrocket and created hot spots on adjacent sidewalks of as much as 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
In 1976, BU published a 32-page article by Silber called "Democracy: Its Counterfeits and Its Promise". Other of his articles have been published in Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Review and Kant-Studien where he served as editor.
said the new name for Sherborn St. was "fitting" as an honor for Silber. "Was there any other way?" Menino quipped, referring to Silber's four decades of influence on the B.U. campus.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
academician
Academician
The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an art, literary, or scientific academy.In many countries, it is an honorary title. There also exists a lower-rank title, variously translated Corresponding Member or Associate Member, .-Eastern Europe and China:"Academician" may also be a functional...
and former candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996 he was President of Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and from 1996 to 2003 Chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
of the University. Since 2003 he has been its President Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
. In 1990, Silber took a leave of absence from the University to run for political office. He won the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
primary
Primary
The word Primary when used alone may refer to any of the following:* Primary , the larger of two co-orbiting bodies* Primary is used for the name of the primary mirror in a telescope.* Primary , from Australia...
as candidate for governor of Massachusetts
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
in the 1990 election
Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1990
The 1990 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. Republican William Weld was elected Governor of Massachusetts for the first time. He beat Democrat John Silber to become the first Republican Governor of Massachusetts since 1975....
. He lost the general election to the moderate Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
William Weld
William Weld
William Floyd Weld is a former governor of the US state of Massachusetts. He served as that state's 68th governor from 1991 to 1997. From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department...
, who won by 38,000 votes.
Silber was trained in and taught philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. He has written two books. The first, Straight Shooting, is a social, political, and moral commentary on issues in that impact modern American life. The second, Architecture of the Absurd is a 128-page assessment of the work of contemporary iconic architects.
Family, education and early academic career
John Silber was born in San Antonio, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, the second son of Paul G. Silber, a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Jewish immigrant architect, and Jewell Joslin Silber, an elementary school teacher. His father's architectural practice collapsed during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
At Trinity University
Trinity University (Texas)
Trinity University is a private, independent, primarily undergraduate, university in San Antonio, Texas. Its campus is located in the Monte Vista Historic District and adjacent to Brackenridge Park....
in San Antonio, Silber double-majored in fine arts and philosophy. In the fall of 1943, as a freshman at Trinity, he met a sophomore named Kathryn Underwood, daughter of farmers from Normanna, Texas
Normanna, Texas
Normanna is a census-designated place in Bee County, Texas, United States. The population was 121 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Normanna is located at ....
. The couple were engaged in January 1946 and married on July 12, 1947. Silber graduated summa cum laude from Trinity in June 1947 and married Miss Underwood on July 12, 1947, shortly after graduation. They had eight children, one son and six daughters by birth and one son by adoption. Their first-born son and daughter were born before 1955. Five more daughters were born over the next eleven years. Their first-born son, David Silber, died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
at age 41 at their home in December 1994.
Silber received his M.A. in 1952 and worked first as a teaching assistant and then as an instructor while pursuing a doctoral degree. Peter H. Hare, Philosophy Professor Emeritus, at SUNY State University of New York at Buffalo remembers Silber as a teaching assistant at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
in the mid-1950s while Hare was still an undergraduate. Hare wrote, "George Schrader was the lecturer in the introductory course where John Silber was the TA leading my discussion section. Silber, a rabid Kantian, was the person with whom I had my first heated philosophical arguments as an adult."
Silber's first faculty job was at University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
where he chaired the Philosophy department from 1962-1967. Larry Hickman, Director, Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
at Carbondale
Carbondale
Carbondale may refer to:*Carbondale, California*Carbondale, Colorado*Carbondale, Illinois*Carbondale, Indiana*Carbondale, Kansas*Carbondale, Ohio*Carbondale, Oklahoma, an area in Tulsa, Oklahoma*Carbondale, Pennsylvania...
recalls his time as a student in philosophy at UT. "The department chairs during those years, John Silber and Irwin C. Lieb, were busy using Texas oil money to collect the very best faculty and graduate students they could find."
While at UT Silber founded the Texas society to abolish capital punishment.
In 1967, Silber became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UT. Three years later, in a widely publicized firing, Silber was removed as Dean in 1970 by the strong-willed UT Regents Chairman Frank Craig Erwin, Jr..
Although Erwin was supported by most of the legislature, he had a tempestuous relationship with many members of the university faculty. His hands-on style of leadership led to conflicts with those professors who considered the academy to be their jurisdiction. The conflict culminated with the firing in July 1970 of Dean John Silber of the College of Arts and Sciences, who had led the opposition to a proposed splitting of his college into two. The dismissal was perceived by many as politically motivated, since Silber's growing popularity was often considered a threat to the regents' control of the university. After the dismissal, several notable professors fled the university.
Silber left the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
in 1971.
Boston University
Silber became the seventh president of Boston University in 1971, and in 1996 was named chancellor after stepping down as president. With an annual salary that reached $800,000, Silber ranked as one of the highest paid college presidents in the country. That same year he was appointed by William WeldWilliam Weld
William Floyd Weld is a former governor of the US state of Massachusetts. He served as that state's 68th governor from 1991 to 1997. From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department...
to serve as head of the Massachusetts Board of Education
Massachusetts Board of Education
The Massachusetts Board of Education is the state education agency responsible for interpreting and implementing laws relevant to public education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Public education in the Commonwealth is organized according to the regulations adopted by the BOE, which are good...
.
Under Silber, Boston University increased in size but questions about his leadership style caused splits among faculty and alumni. According to Perspectives Online, the publication of the American Historical Association
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
, Fritz K. Ringer held the presidency of the Boston University chapter of the American Association of University Professors
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...
(AAUP) for eight years. "Serving at a time when the BU president (Silber) was running roughshod over faculty rights, Fritz Ringer bravely and vigorously championed the principles of academic freedom."
He remained president until 1989, when he took a leave of absence to run for governor of Massachusetts as a Democrat. He returned to BU after losing to William Weld.
In 2002, Silber ordered that a B.U.-affiliated high school academy disband its gay-straight alliance
Gay-straight alliance
Gay–straight alliances are student organizations, found primarily in North American high schools and universities, that are intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their straight allies .-Goal:The goal of most, if not all,...
, a student club that staged demonstrations to publicize the deleterious effects of homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. Silber dismissed the stated purpose of the club -- to serve as a support group for gay students and to promote tolerance and understanding between gay and straight students -- accusing the club of being a vehicle for "homosexual recruitment." Silber denounced the group for "evangelism" and "homosexual militancy" with the purpose of promoting gay sex.
Among Silber's recruits to the Boston University faculty were the author Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
and Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
, writer and concentration camp survivor. Silber possessed special sensitivity toward Jewish people, which was heightened while he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Bonn, West Germany. It was there he learned his father's side of the family was Jewish and that his aunt had been killed at Auschwitz. His father had never said anything about it.
The 1970s marked a period of constant tension at Boston University. The president accused the faculty of mediocrity and the students of fostering anarchy, and they, in turn, accused him of tyrannical rule. Essentially, in response to the Silber administration, the faculty organized a union in 1974 and the following year voted to affiliate with the American Association of University Professors. The administration would not negotiate with the union, and in 1976 the refusal was challenged in a lawsuit. Two-thirds of the faculty and deans demanded the board of trustees fire Silber. The board refused. In 1978 the courts decided in favor of the AAUP position and Boston University was forced to negotiate. The faculty conducted a brief strike in 1979 which was followed by a clerical workers' walkout in which several faculty members refused to cross the picket line. Silber charged five of these faculty members with negligence and moved to have them disciplined. At that point faculty members throughout Boston signed a petition to have Silber removed. In 1984 the courts ruled that the local AAUP chapter could not engage in collective bargaining.
Silber's popularity and support rose during the 1980s. Boston University had improved its campus, vastly increased its endowment, and attracted a blue-chip faculty. His support among alumni and friends of the university was high, as evidenced by financial and other support given to B.U. Silber was a welcomed guest at the White House during both the Reagan and Bush administrations and they, in turn, were commencement speakers and recipients of Boston University honors.
Silber's "deferred compensation package"
On May 10, 2006, the New York Times reported that the trustees of Boston University had given Silber an unprecedented compensation package, including deferred compensation, worth $6.1 million in 2005.Endowment controversy
During his tenure as President, $85 million, nearly one fifth of the Boston University endowment, was invested in a biotechnology company named Seragen. Investments continued, even after a rebuke from state regulators because of the risk involved. The bulk of the investment was lost when the Seragen stock collapsed.Political activities
Silber was the first person to chair the Texas Society to Abolish Capital PunishmentCapital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. He advocated integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
at the University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
and promoted Operation Head Start, an early education program for preschoolers.
In 1990
Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1990
The 1990 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. Republican William Weld was elected Governor of Massachusetts for the first time. He beat Democrat John Silber to become the first Republican Governor of Massachusetts since 1975....
Silber ran for Governor of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. His outsider status as well as his outspoken and combative style were at first seen as advantages in a year in which voters were disenchanted with the Democratic Party establishment. As the Democratic nominee, Silber faced Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
William Weld
William Weld
William Floyd Weld is a former governor of the US state of Massachusetts. He served as that state's 68th governor from 1991 to 1997. From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department...
. Silber's angry personality, which appalled many voters, coupled with Weld's socially liberal views helped Weld in the race. During the gubernatorial race, Silber regularly overreacted to questions from the press. These overreactions came to be known as "Silber shockers". On the campaign trail he called Massachusetts a "welfare magnet" and proposed cutting off benefits for unmarried mothers who have a second child while still on public aid. He questioned saving the lives of terminally ill elderly people, quoting Shakespeare and saying that "when you've had a long life and you're ripe, then it's time to go." He said that the feminist Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, the black Muslim leader, Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
, and white supremacists are "the kind of people I wouldn't appoint as judges." In a key interview late in the campaign, Silber was asked by WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
newscaster Natalie Jacobson
Natalie Jacobson
Natalie Jacobson was for a quarter-century a well-regarded and popular television newscaster with WCVB-TV in Boston, Massachusetts....
to name his weaknesses, and he lost his composure and snarled back that finding his weaknesses was her job, and he did not need to list them for her. After this performance, Silber's poll numbers declined rapidly. Ultimately, Weld was able to hold on to a significant portion of the Republican base while appealing to large numbers of Democrats and left-of-center independents, enabling him to defeat Silber by four points. Weld became the first Republican to serve as governor since 1974.
Publications
Silber wrote two books. Straight Shooting: What's wrong with America and How to Fix It (Harper & Row, 1989), and Architecture of the Absurd: How "Genius" Disfigured a Practical Art (Quantuck Lane, 2007).Straight Shooting is part autobiography and partly a statement of Silber's concern that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
has experienced a decline in moral and spiritual values traceable to excessive avarice and materialism. He also faults society with excessive reliance on litigation to settle disputes.
Architecture of the Absurd discusses Silber's view that certain celebrity architects frequently fail to meet the needs of their clients because they consider themselves primarily sculptors and do not adequately consider financial constraints, the physical needs of building occupants or the urban environment. He is critical of architects Josep Lluís Sert
Josep Lluís Sert
Josep Lluís Sert i López was a Spanish Catalan architect and city planner.- Biography :Born in Barcelona, he showed keen interest in the works of his painter uncle Josep Maria Sert and of Gaudí. He studied architecture at the Escola Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona and set up his own studio...
, Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
, Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
, Daniel Libeskind
Daniel Libeskind
Daniel Libeskind, is an American architect, artist, and set designer of Polish-Jewish descent. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect...
and Steven Holl
Steven Holl
Steven Holl is an American architect and watercolorist, perhaps best known for the 1998 Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum in Helsinki, Finland, the 2003 Simmons Hall at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the celebrated 2007 Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City,...
. One example cited by Silber is Le Corbusier's megalomaniacal 1930s plan for Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, which called for the demolition of the entire city. A more recent example is Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
which, before it was modified at additional expense, made rooms of nearby condominiums unbearably warm causing their air-conditioning costs to skyrocket and created hot spots on adjacent sidewalks of as much as 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
In 1976, BU published a 32-page article by Silber called "Democracy: Its Counterfeits and Its Promise". Other of his articles have been published in Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Review and Kant-Studien where he served as editor.
Boston street named for him
On May 14, 2008, the City of Boston renamed Sherborn St., which bisects the main Boston University Campus from Commonwealth Ave. through Bay State Rd. ending at Back St., "John R. Silber Way." Boston Mayor Thomas MeninoThomas Menino
Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...
said the new name for Sherborn St. was "fitting" as an honor for Silber. "Was there any other way?" Menino quipped, referring to Silber's four decades of influence on the B.U. campus.
Further reading
- Allis, Sam, The Ivory Tower Triggerman, Time Magazine, August 28, 1989, 69.
External links
- Boston University's biography of Silber and
- Village Voice article accusing Silber of bigotry and homophobia
- The Boston bully: Boston U. chancellor John Silber had a gay son who died of AIDS. So why is he such a dedicated homophobe?, The Advocate (Nov 26, 2002)
- New York Review of Books sequence of letters: