George Weaver, Harvey Wexler Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Taught at Bryn Mawr from 1969-2008
The below was sent by Bryn Mawr President Kim Cassidy on December 8, 2015.
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
I write with the sad news that George Weaver, Harvey Wexler Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, passed away on Friday, December 4. I hope you will join me in extending condolences to the members of the departments of Computer Science, Mathematics and Philosophy and all members of the community who had the pleasure to know George.
Professor Weaver received his BA, MA and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He came to Bryn Mawr in 1969 as a Lecturer in the Philosophy Department and was successively named Assistant Professor in 1971, Associate Professor in 1976, and Full Professor in 1982. That same year he became chair of the department and served in that role for six years. In 1996, he was appointed Harvey Wexler Professor of Philosophy, a position he held until his retirement in 2008.
George’s teaching included courses on discrete mathematics and advanced mathematical logic, cross-listed in philosophy and mathematics, as well as introduction to set theory, among others. He served on the Curriculum Committee, the Task Force on the Graduate School in the mid-1980s and the Two-College Committee on Academic Cooperation in the early 1990s.
Throughout his career, George’s interests spanned the fields of philosophy, mathematics, linguistics, and computer science, focusing on model theory, abstract logic, logic, set theory, foundations of mathematics, and the philosophy of mathematics. Trained as a scholar of logic and mathematical linguistics, George made many important contributions to the development of the computer science program at the College, where he anchored the discrete mathematics and logic components of the computer science curriculum. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Tri-Co linguistics program and in bringing postdocs and scholars in the history of science to the Tri-Co community. In addition to publishing numerous articles and abstracts in a variety of journals, George contributed to the Mathematics and its Application series with his book Henkin-Keisler Models in 1997.
Deepak Kumar, Professor of Computer Science, calls George “a dear friend, colleague and mentor” and notes “[h]e taught with passion and rigor and cared deeply about his courses and the students. Students who studied with him had a deep respect and admiration for him.”
Associate Professor of Computer Science Doug Blank recalls the early contributions George made to the department and his love for his research and students, even after his retirement. Doug and George were neighbors, allowing Doug to frequently observe George, alternately working out a problem on a whiteboard on his front porch and hitting golf balls in the backyard.
George is survived by his wife, Mary Hediger (BMC ’72), their son Matthew and his son Adam Weaver. At this time, the family does not intend to have a memorial service.