Dear Slavic Department friends,
I am so very sad to tell you that our colleague, alumnus, and friend Boris Wolfson died on Thursday, June 13, 2024, after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. He received his Ph. D. from U. C. Berkeley in 2004 and taught at USC before taking his position at Amherst College, where he was much loved by his students. He was a remarkable figure in the Slavic field—someone who brought people together and made them feel like part of a true community. His model for that sort of scholarly community was the Lyceum where the young Pushkin had studied, and every year on October 19, the anniversary of the founding of the Lyceum, Boris would send an email around to friends and colleagues reminding us of Pushkin’s love for his friends and his school. Like Pushkin, Boris has now left this world far too soon. We will remember him with gratitude and affection, and we send our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Amanda Walling, and to their son Ben Wolfson, whose development as a warmhearted human being and exceptional pianist brought Boris so much joy over the years. Boris, you will be sorely missed!
Anne Nesbet
Professor
U. C. Berkeley
Chair, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
The Albert Kaspin and Ruth McGovney Kaspin Chair in Slavic Languages and Literatures
Professor, Department of Film and Media
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Dissertation: Staging the Soviet Self: Literature, Theater, and Stalinist Culture, 1929-1939.
BA, The University of Chicago (Fundamentals: Issues and Texts), 1997
Associate Professor of Russian at Amherst College, affiliated with programs in Film and Media Studies and European Studies
In 2004-2008, Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California.
For more, see https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/bwolfson