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Alumni profs find their way back to the Hill

By Tom Swift '95
October 19, 2005

Maeda
Maeda
Some St. Olaf College graduates leave the Hill knowing that, deep down, they're leaving to do good -- but not for good. Every year the college recruits from among the finest group of faculty available and every year that means hiring Oles who feel the gravitational pull to return to a place that's helped shape their lives. Dana Maeda '92, Brian Borovsky '94 and Christopher Aspaas '95 are three Oles who responded to the tug this fall.

Maeda graduated from St. Olaf with a degree in music education and oboe performance. Her oboe teacher at St. Olaf was Rhadames Angelucci, a warm, paternal, Italian gentleman who had been principal oboe with the Minnesota Orchestra for decades.

Maeda loved her lesson time with Angelucci and his gift for telling stories. Over the course of four years the two built a grandfather-granddaughter-type relationship. The lessons always started with a sincere "How was your week?" and usually ended with a hug.

During the fall of her senior year Angelucci was too ill to come to campus, so Maeda went to his home for lessons. It was during one of these lessons when Angelucci looked at Maeda and said, in his fine Italian accent, "Some day you will have the key to my room."

Angelucci passed away during Christmas Break, while Maeda was preparing for her senior recital. "I can't tell you how much I missed him," she said.

In 1993 Maeda returned to campus when she joined a woodwind quintet that included faculty members Jo Ann Polley '73 and Kay Sahlin. Now, 12 years later, St. Olaf has hired Maeda as a music instructor. She's discovered that it is possible to come home again -- and that when you get there you can't help being reminded of old friends, a fact that was manifest in a seemingly innocuous action when Maeda was handed the key to Rhadames Angelucci's room.

"I guess in the back of my mind I always figured I'd be involved with St. Olaf in one way or another," she says. "But to have it actually happen has been rather frightening, amazing and wonderful. Coming back to campus as a faculty member has a rather surreal quality to it. In some ways it feels as though I never left. In other ways it feels like a lifetime ago."

Maeda says she never dared to dream that one day she would again sit in the office of her mentor. "I am honored to be back and to be entrusted with continuing the legacy that Rhadames passed to me," she said. "I'm not sure I'm worthy. But I'll do my best. As he would say: 'It's all about making beautiful music.' Knowing him, he's laughing right now."

Brian Borovsky is an assistant professor of physics who says it's "a wonderful surprise" to be back at St. Olaf.

"I feel nothing but positive feelings about returning, because there is such a sense of compassion and togetherness about this place," Borovsky said. "It can be hard to describe, but it is real and remarkable.

"Sometimes I look at my students and think about how it wasn't too long ago that I was in exactly their position, so I can empathize with them," he says. "But it doesn?t stop me from having mischievous thoughts about messing with their minds just a little now that I am the one in the front of the room."

AspaasLarge
Newly named conductor Christopher Aspaas '95 checks out Studio A, the rehearsal space for his Viking Chorus ensemble.
Christopher Aspaas has been hired as assistant professor of music, a fact that he says has prompted many colleagues and students to ask him whether it feels strange to return. That's not a difficult question for the conductor of Viking Chorus and Chapel Choir to answer.

"The professionalism, respect and mentoring that occurs here between students and faculty creates relationships that can develop as time passes," he explains. "There has been absolutely no strain. In fact, I am thrilled to have this honor. It is humbling to be a part of this rich tradition."

Aspaas says he feels as much "at home" as a professor as he did as a student. Like many Ole returnees, when Aspaas walks around campus he is reminded of many pleasant memories from his years as a student. "Even though some of the physical appearance of the campus has changed, the heart of this campus is still the same," he says.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.