Shorter messages from well-wishers can be found on this page, while others are found in separate articles. View the alphabetical list of all messages. (Did you want to add a message and not get a chance? email cmackay@brynmawr.edu.)
Lynn Ahwesh '68
Dear Mrs. Ridgway (I would never have called you Bruni!): Your intro course on ancient art and archaeology opened up a whole world of knowledge to me.You made human history and imagination into a wonderful, exciting story, and I'll always be grateful to you. Happy birthday!
Sheba Akhtar '84
Thank you so much, Professor Ridgway, for inspiring us with your enthusiasm and love for Greek sculpture and architecture. I have carried that love forward to my own students when teaching Architecture History. I can still hear your voice when I lecture about Greek architecture. Happy Birthday, dear Professor!
Susan Alexander '78
Dear Bruni: You were the brightest star of my Bryn Mawr universe. I always looked forward to your classes and I worked harder for you than any other professor. Your energy and passion for archaeology infused your every moment and was contagious. And I loved how Charlie followed you around so loyally. Even my mother loved you when when I would invite her to come to your class as her birthday present. One funny memory was when I was writing a paper on the cylinder seals in the BMC collection. I was returning them by wearing the necklace they were on while carrying the clay impressions I had made. You laughed and commented on my "nice necklace." After graduation, when I visited the Naples museum parts of which were closed for budget reasons, your name was magic. All I had to say to get into a closed wing of the museum that housed sculpture I was there to see was that I studied with you. Eyes widened and doors opened. Bruni, you are an amazing person and professor who has changed so many lives for the good. Happy 90th birthday and many, many more. Love, Susi.
Rebecca Miller Ammerman '76
You, Bruni, are a life-long inspiration to us all. Auguroni per il tuo compleanno e per un anno pieno di felicità e gioia!
- View images (PDF)
Dimitra Andrianou, Ph.D. '03
My warmest wishes for your birthday along with my warmest thanks for your assistance and inspiration! Many more reliefs to come soon!
Harry Avery
Dear Bruni: Greetings and Happy Birthday. Best wishes.
Allyson Shepard Bailey '84
From 35 years and 3,000 miles away I have happy memories of lively lectures and clacking beads ... still grateful for all the help and support. Not everyone would take time from dealing with graduate students and editing the AJA to help a freshman with her Arch 101 paper. Warmest wishes for a wonderful birthday!
Elizabeth Barber '62
Bruni the thoughtful, Bruni the helpful — with that wonderful laugh! Long after I graduated, long after she had helped me and my classmates figure out how to study archaeological monuments (we all adored her), her helping hand was still there in the form of rafts of references and comments if I wrote her concerning some research that touched on her areas. Once she got me invited to a conference on the Panathenaia, since she knew I had thoroughly researched the making of Athena’s peplos. The only efficient way I could get there was by flying on a little puddle-jumper out of Boston, but my plane into Boston was late. The airline people rushed me up and down stairs and across the tarmac, and as I scrambled breathlessly up the little stairway into an absolutely full plane, I heard Bruni’s reassuring voice boom out from somewhere, “There’s one seat in the very back, Betchen!”
Michael Barich (H.C. '77)
Best wishes to you, Professor Ridgway, on celebrating your 90th birthday. Your exciting lectures in archaeology class are still a vivid and fond memory. — Michael Barich, Department of Classics, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH 43022 (BMC Arch 101 '73-'74)
Maureen Basedow, '83
Mrs Ridgway, one day in 1980 you strode over to me in Thomas Great Hall, where I was busy eating donuts and cutting Greek, pointed at my cigarette and said, loud enough for half the hall to hear, “Miss Basedow, for what do we raise great archaeologists! To have them die of lung cancer?!!” There are more obvious things to thank you for, for letting us see through your eyes, so brave - but I want you to know as well that I did become a great archaeologist AND I did quit smoking. Happy 90th—and many more.
Marshall Joseph Becker
Dear Bruni: There are so many ways in which your scholarship and concern for your students have had impacts far beyond Bryn Mawr and the scholarly areas for which your are best known. I have had the pleasure of working with many of your students to investigate aspects of human biology as they can be used to understand better the lives and death rituals of people throughout Italy and in other parts of the Mediterranean. The excellent quality of your work and your stimulating approach to understanding the past serves as a model for all of us. — Marshall J. Becker, Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at West Chester University
Janer Danforth Belson, M.A. '78, Ph.D. '81
Happy Birthday Bruni! You have always been an inspiration and role model to me showing that it is possible to be an accomplished and respected scholar and have a fulfilling family life at the same time. You helped me balance the tight timetable of being a Whiting Fellow with the exhaustion and confusion of being a new mother (Baby Julia, by the way, just turned 40!). I remember with gratitude the nursery you allowed me to set up on third floor of Thomas so I could work on my dissertation and care for the baby. Earlier,I remember sitting in on your Archaeology 101 lectures as your T.A., watching your dog, Charlie, pacing around the stage while you were speaking. This inspired me to get a schnauzer named Schliemann. My idea was to have my cute and friendly dog accompany me to the seminar room a la your Charlie. This worked out badly, however, because Schliemann lunged at and just missed biting Machteld Mellink's wrist when she was reaching down near my table for a volume of the BSA. I left the dog at home from then on. Happy birthday Bruni. May you stay healthy and happy.
Christiane Biermann '65
I remember her lively and spirited teaching; in spite of her concentration on the topic just discussed she did perceive her students' feelings. Thus she noticed when I felt to be a stranger, and took her time to talk to me, and thus to help me. She proved to be a warmhearted person and took a major part of the responsibility for my enjoying my time at Bryn Mawr. I am very grateful to her and happy that she is still with us!
Cynthia Bisman
Dearest Bruni, while I haven't seen you in quite a while, I so well remember many truly wondrous conversations about all things large and small, and always left enlightened. You convey a deep awareness of humanity, as well as warmth, intellect and sense of humor. With much respect and admiration. Best wishes for a Great 90 year birthday celebration.
Amy Bogaard '94
Dear Professor Ridgeway: I think often of your inspiring teaching and advice during my undergraduate degree at Bryn Mawr, and am continually strengthened by it. I vividly recall the thrill of your lectures, the richness of the information you imparted and the sense you conveyed that there was so much exciting work yet to be done. ... I also remember a key piece of advice you gave me when I was graduating: that I shouldn't forget to develop a life outside of the library, and not forget to have children! Eventually I did succeed in having a child, now a daughter (Greta) of 10 — but not until I had finished my Ph.D. and had a teaching job. I wish you a joyful and fun 90th birthday!
Anne Bonn, M.A. '66, Ph.D. '76
Wow! 90 is very impressive, Bruni Ridgway! I took a course with you when I began my graduate studies at Bryn Mawr. I had never imagined that I could enjoy learning about sculpture, but you proved my assumptions incorrect. You were a most engaging teacher, and opened my eyes to a subject that had always seemed inaccessible to me. Thank you! All the best to the newly minted nonagenarian!
Nancy Bookidis '67
Dear Bruni, I always remember your answer to me when I was struggling to write my dissertation and foolishly admitted to being tired when you insisted that I give you yet another rewrite by the next morning. I quote,” YOU are telling me, the mother of four and full time professor, that you are tired? You get that to me tomorrow.” I did, and because of your pushing, I finished my dissertation. I feel sorry for all of those ABD’s who did not or do not have the benefit of such care and attention. I will always feel grateful. Nancy Bookidis, ‘67
Miriam (Mimsy) Brenaman '60
Greetings from one of your first year of teaching students. I still appreciate the learning, and I try to keep up with the news of the day, join the AIA and take magazine subscriptions. I went on to get a J.D., and remember almost none of my legal training, but still recall things you and Miss Mellink said in lectures. I remember lounging on your Greek rugs in your living room while we studied Egyptian architecture and kept an ear out for the baby. Many happy returns!
Carol W. Campbell
Bruni, Your analyses of Classical sculpture is beyond duplication — we must wish you 90 more eloquent years. Your inspiration has been: AIA Study Tour of Sicily, June 1971, Director. Unforgettable for every site! — Seminars, Archaic to Roman adaptations — Special evening Lectures in Physics Classroom — Watching your children grow up, and the next book to be published — Knowing your happiness with Pete — Visits to your home for chocolate cake — Warmest wishes ahead, and a sincere thank you for your direction and friendship.
Martha Carlin '75
I have wonderful memories of the classes that I took with you, beginning in my freshman year with Archaeology 101. Today I tell my own colleagues and students some of the stories that you told in class, such as about the man who hid his purse in the cupped hands of the statue of Aristides that stood under a plane tree on the Athenian Acropolis, or about why the Roman toga had no fastenings. … And I recall how your dog Charles would walk into the dimly-lighted lecture room while you were showing slides, and have a peaceful snooze during your lecture. I also remember that you kindly came to a dinner party that my roommate Sue Peters and I held in our little suite in Pembroke East, and how you brought a delicious banana cake, for which you gave me the recipe. Every time I make that cake, as well as every time I recall your wonderful lectures, I think of you.
All best wishes and affection to a marvelous, inspiring, encouraging and dedicated teacher but whose genuine humanity shines most brightly. Thank you for so much.
Bill Crawford and Maria Luisa (Weecha) Crawford '60
Bill and I join all in wishing you a most happy birthday. — With love, Weecha.
Anne Stainton Dane (Roo) '61
Happy, happy birthday, Bruni. I am among many who treasure memories of your brilliant and lively teaching, and, even more, of your warmth, humor, empathy and humanity. I don't think you ever forgot a student's name. I even remember back when you were still Bruni Sismondo, and already you offered friendship and support to all who came your way. May your golden years be full of joy.
Jack Davis
Fondest greetings on your birthday, Bruni, from your friends in Cincinnati. Your kindness to me as a younger scholar meant much to me and I keep it in mind when interacting with students always.
Leslie Preston Day '66
Richard Daniel De Puma, M.A. '67, Ph.D. '69
Dear Bruni, Congratulations on your 90th birthday. Recently, on Sept. 28, I had the great honor to present the Ridgway Lecture to the Washington AIA Society at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma. I told the audience how happy I was to have had you as one of my teachers at Bryn Mawr and how much your methods inspired my own approach to teaching. It was long ago, but my memories of those times at Bryn Mawr are vivid and I am glad that we have had many opportunities to visit at conferences and symposia over the years. I am most grateful for all that you have done for me and so many others in classical archaeology. — Your student and colleague, Richard.
Eleanor Dickey '89
Happy 90th birthday, and may it be followed by many more happy birthdays! And thank you so much for being such an inspiring Archaeology 102 teacher all those years ago. I still remember your words when I see the sites and museums you told us about, and I now understand your explanations far better than I did at the time I heard them. Plus, now that I, too, give lectures to large groups of clueless first-year undergraduates, I make much use of your lecturing style as a model—though I haven't yet got the string of beads. I wish you all possible health and happiness!
Sandra Dollar '71
Happy birthday to my favorite BMC professor! You gave me some advice when I was a sophomore (1969) that has stood me in good stead for the last 50 years. Thank you, Bruni. You are a treasure. Have a wonderful 90th birthday and many, many more!
A.A. Donohue '72
Congratulations on your ninetieth!
Dian Duryea '72 Ph.D.
Dear Bruni: You are an inspiration. You helped us look and think about what we see. Your spirit will be with us always. You are a delight. I guess this is over the top. I want you to know how much I learned in your seminars and how much a I enjoyed the semester of special studies with you. You sent me off on a quest; I researched and wrote; we met and discussed. Your Sather lectures encourages your Berkeley audience to look around them, just as you did with your students.Frank and I enjoyed our visit with you and Pete at our Sierra cabin. We both wish you a very happy birthday. Warmest of wishes for this occasion, Dian Duryea and Frank Smith
Mary Ann Eaverly '79
Warmest birthday wishes.Thank you for being such an inspiring teacher.
Ingrid Edlund-Berry, M.A. '69, Ph.D. '71
Our very best wishes for the celebration of your milestone birthday with friends and students. — Ingrid Edlund-Berry and John Berry
Margaret Eighan '82
I didn’t have you as a professor, but showed slides for some of your classes. Happy birthday!
Aleta Glaseroff Estreicher '70
Dear Bruni: Back in 1966, I eagerly enrolled in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology 101. I was captivated by the subject and loved both the classes and your lively approach. There were many unforgettable, sometimes intimidating, moments — you announcing that you had never given higher than an 89 and didn’t expect that to change with our class (!), telling us that when we are walking on the Acropolis/Parthenon, we should “always look down” so we wouldn’t miss any interesting shards, etc. And who could forget you striding into the first class of the second semester and opening with “As I was saying ...” There were three of us from Pem East, class of ‘70, in that first class, Alice Chasan, Susan Lewkowicz [now Locke], and I [Aleta Glaseroff, now Estreicher]. We all sat together, asked endless questions, and fell under your spell. You called us the Three Musketeers, and we are still the closest of friends 53 years later. When class ended, we wanted to express our respect and affection for you, so we obtained a tiny unglazed pot (from the Peasant Shop?), painted it with eclectic stylistic Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Minoan, and Greek motifs, and glazed it with clear nail polish before presenting it to you as our archaeological “find.” To me, you were a Super Woman — the consummate professional who could do it all. You were a brilliant and dedicated teacher/scholar, a wife, a mother. When I screwed up the courage to speak with you, you were charming, demanding, kind, funny, and welcoming. A wonderful role model for someone who would go on to be a professor herself. You were my hero at Bryn Mawr and that has never changed. And so, may I wish you a very happy birthday, dear Professor. May you enjoy many, many more.
Sarah Whitley Ferguson '79
I loved Mrs. Ridgway's classes. I remember her saying, "Please call me Mrs. Ridgway, not Dr. Ridgway. It is so much harder to find a good husband than to get a Ph.D." One day during 102 Mrs. Ridgway's poodle, Charles, barfed on the stage. A few days later the slide was of a low relief depiction of an Assyrian lion hunt. "See how naturalistic that is. The lion is vomiting blood. You all recently saw Charles vomit so you know how realistic the work is."
Catherine Spotswood Gibbes, M.A. '73, Ph.D. '78
I am delighted to add my greetings to those of many well-wishers taking note of your milestone 90th birthday. Severe Style still occupies pride of place in my study, and I have so many vivid memories of your wonderful animated class presentations that taught me a whole new way of looking at art of the Classical era. Congratulations, best wishes!
Michael Giden (HC '84)
Dear Mrs. Ridgway—Congratulations on your 90th birthday! I majored in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology and took several classes with you. I also had the good fortune to show slides for several of your graduate seminars. (It was the 80s, we still relied on wooden trays of slides, including those wonderful large glass slides.) I still can't believe I got paid to attend those seminars! Although I went on to do graduate work in medieval art history, I eventually became an attorney. The education you provided lived up to the ideal of the liberal arts. The skills I learned from you continue to be useful in my career to this day. Specifically, the ability to distill what little facts we might actually know and use that as the foundation to build an argument. You gave me an appreciation for clear, straightforward writing. Lastly, you taught me how to carefully look at objects. I look back on those experiences fondly, and continue to benefit from them every day. With gratitude and best wishes, Michael Giden, HC ‘84
Marilyn Y. Goldberg '69, Ph.D. '77
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a career that was always interesting and never boring. It was ARCH 101 my sophomore year that brought all my other courses together for the first time. You introduced me to Classical Archaeology. And when I returned to Bryn Mawr for my Ph.D., you gave me the opportunity to start teaching as an assistant in the very same class that I had started out in. Of course having Charlie as a companion in class was always a joy. And getting to know your family, especially your "boys" was a great boon. Your incredible enthusiasm for the material we were studying gave me the role model I needed as I went on to become a professor myself. You showed me how to teach. Thank you so very much, Bruni.
Julie Goodman '71
Dear Mrs. Ridgway, I applied to Bryn Mawr because I had a passion for archaeology. Your Archaeology 101 — my very first class on my first day of college, aged 17 in 1967 — represented my dream come true. Your insights, humor, and brilliance shone on us every day. (I can still see in my mind the big slides you showed us of Greek sculpture, and recall my surprise at finally seeing, in Athens, how small the actual kouroi were!) I have always remembered you with great affection over the years. Thank you for inspiring and enlightening me, and congratulations on your 90 years!
Nancy Halli '71
Happy Birthday, Bruni — may your special day be filled with chocolate surprises! Ever since I began studying Greek art, architecture, and culture in your Bryn Mawr College Introductory Archaeology class, I have been in awe of your breadth of knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your generosity to share all with students and colleagues. Thank you for guiding me through the arduous process of the senior thesis, and for writing a letter of recommendation that helped snag me a coveted summer internship at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art — my favorite work experience. Thank you for being both a mentor and friend and, by the way, your Chocolate Death Pie recipe is delicious every time I make it. My only regret is that I did not attend Bryn Mawr College’s last Faculty Show ("Curriculi, Curricula" 1979) to see my “Italian tornado” on the Goodhart Hall stage in a skit titled "Biology 302B: Advanced Genetics." As the College News (2/20/1979) reported: “Mrs. Ridgway, clad only in a bee costume flitted enthusiastically about the stage, claiming that ‘I wish to state That I’ll always mate with whatever drone I encounter’.” Whatever you do, Bruni, you always give 100 percent! Thanks, and God bless. Love and best wishes, Nancy Halli BMC ’71.
Margaret Hannigan '74
Happy 90th birthday, Mrs. Ridgway! My Mom celebrated hers in September and heard from many former students and colleagues, so I know how meaningful it can be to hear from past students. I loved all your classes. Please don't tell the others, but you were my favorite professor. Your classes were always so entertaining, challenging and inspiring. One of my many memories is of the day the string on your orange worry beads broke and they went everywhere. There was a mad scramble to recover them so you could go on teaching. I wish I had a picture. But pictures in those days required a lot more work and planning than nowadays. After Bryn Mawr, I went to law school and practiced as a corporate attorney for many years. I have two amazing daughters and two adorable granddaughters. I now live in Tacoma, Wash., but have never lost my zeal for archeology. You were a great blessing in my life. I wish you many happy healthy birthdays to come. Love, Margaret
Christina Gasparro Hansen '64
Craig Hardiman
Professor Ridgway and I have never met. And yet, she has proven a defining individual in my life. It was as an undergraduate student I began reading her work on Hellenistic Sculpture and fell in love with the material and the time period. This was only reinforced when I took a course with one of her former students, Prof. Jane Francis at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. It came as no surprise, then, when I ultimately went to the Ohio State University for my Ph.D. and worked under another of her former students, Prof. Mark Fullerton. While obtaining my degree, I was fortunate enough to be among the first recipients of the Bruni Ridgway Fellowship at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. To this day, I have undergraduate and graduate students who work in the field of Hellenistic Art and I always smile when they "discover" Prof Ridgway's work. This is all to say that Prof. Ridgway has had an impact far beyond the walls of Bryn Mawr and deep into the fields of art and archaeology. She has influenced generations of amateurs and scholars the world over. She and I have never met, and yet the person and academic that I am today is in no small part due to her. And for that, I am truly thankful. Many happy returns on this momentous occasion. — Craig Hardiman, University of Waterloo (Canada).
Erika Harnett, PhD. '87
All the best to you, Bruni, on your 90th!
Sarah Morgan Harvey '90
Mrs. Ridgway, you helped me so much during my time at Bryn Mawr. Your focused direction of my honor's thesis was instrumental to my completion of it, and I appreciated how timely and thorough you were with the feedback. We had many meetings and discussions during which I learned so much about the process of research. I also still fondly remember your lectures during which you discussed topics so thoroughly and well, with worry beads in hand. Working with you inspired me to become who I am today (as an active archaeologist and Classics professor). I wish you all the best on your 90th birthday, and hope you celebrate many more!
Peg Healy, Ph.D. '69
Dear Bruni, What a long and wonderful life. You have given joy (and wisdom) to those of us who have known you for half of you 90 years. God bless you for your remaining time with us.
Artemis Hionides '82
Happy Birthday, Mrs. Ridgway! I will never forget your enthusiasm and passion for Greek sculpture and your generosity inviting me to your house as a new student from Greece—or your worrybeads, your meticulous descriptions of musculature on statues, and your stories about using ancient Greek words to shop in Athens. My very best wishes!
Nicolle Hirschfeld '85
I confess that Greek and Roman marble statues still leave me cold. I just cannot get excited about them in the way that small, grotty pieces of terra-cotta pots, even undecorated, will speak to me. But though you could not get me to react to those hunks of stone you did teach me to see them and recognize the many questions and answers tucked into those folds of doughy (or not) drapery. In doing so you showed me how to be contagious in the classroom. Your passion stuck to me and now mine sticks to my students. Most of them won't become archaeologists but they understand that there is need and purpose and joy in delving into the ancient world. Thank you.
Tamar Hodos '90
Dear Bruni: The first archaeology lecture I ever attended was the initial session of your Introduction to Classical Archaeology 102 course, and it was your final semester of undergraduate teaching prior to retirement. That class was like an epiphany for me, because you made the past real. Within that single session, you made me realise that the world of the ancient Greeks was not solely about deities, epic battles, tyrants, or dots on a map. It was about real people who made things and used things, and who lived, loved and lost just like I did. It crystalised the histories and myths into a lived experience that had material and visual forms and meanings. I have never looked back. I am incredibly lucky to have learned from you not only about Greek antiquity, but also about how to balance the personal and the professional. You always took the time to see me when I returned to Bryn Mawr long after I graduated, and I was grateful to you for your continued guidance, advice, encouragement and support. Even now, I carry with me your enthusiasm and compassion, and I still strive to emulate your knowledge and wisdom. With many happy returns on your 90th birthday!
Antonia Holden, '86 Ph.D.
Dear Bruni, I hope this greeting finds you well and in good spirits. I am happy to wish you a happy ninetieth birthday and to have the chance to express my appreciation and gratitude to you after so many years, for your wonderful teaching, your mentorship and your support when I was at Bryn Mawr, and afterwards at various stages of my life, when I visited Bryn Mawr, or popped up on Bryn Mawr radar for other reasons. It really does seem like only yesterday that I was in my first year of graduate school, an awkward and difficult start for me; but I remember clearly that you, with firmness and kindness helped me focus on my work and calm down. Looking back I am in awe of the enormous amount of time you devoted to all of your students, including me, the generous advice you offered about school work, research, and just managing — I guess we could say life work, for lack of a better term. Enjoy being fêted and I wish you many more happy birthdays! Love XOXO Toni
Michael Hornum, Ph.D. '91
Happy 90th Birthday, Bruni! I am happy to have had the opportunity to study with you these many years ago now. I always appreciated your insightful input and assistance. Thanks for everything.
John Humphrey, Ph.D. '75
Dear Bruni, It has been a great pleasure working with you over the last two years on your two publications, "The Ludovisi 'Suicidal Gaul' and his wife: bronze or marble original, Hellenistic or Roman?" and your long review of Caroline Vout's Classical Art. A life history, published today and attached here. It is absolutely extraordinary how professionally active you have been in so many ways right up to your 90th! And what you have done for the College and your students is even more extraordinary. Mille grazie!
Jeffrey Hurwit
Happy 90th, Bruni! You are and have always been a model for us all. We are all your students (and you're the best lecturer I've ever heard)! — Best, Jeff
Susan Becker Broughton Hussein '60
Dear Bruni, I was never your student, but we were nursing mothers at about the same time. As I recall it, you managed motherhood with the same enthusiasm you put into every little corner of life, and now our children are grown; they are old enough to be grandparents themselves! How glorious is that? I'm so happy to think that you can still shake a leg, or at least a few toes, and celebrate.
Susan Kane
Buon compleanno! Many best wishes on this milestone birthday!
Kim Kindya '90
Congratulations on your 90th birthday! I'm so glad that you have reached this wonderful milestone! I was a Cities major, and though I took some archaeology classes, I didn't get to take a course taught entirely by you. However, you may remember my griffin sweater. It was back in the late '80s, and I used to have a big pink cotton sweater with a white griffin rampant embroidered on the front. I worked in the Art and Archaeology library in the basement of Thomas Great Hall, back before the Rhys Carpenter library was built. Every now and then I'd visit some of my friends who were taking classes taught by you. The first time you noticed my sweater, you said, "The griffin! That design was used in ancient Greek art!" Then, every time you saw me, you would greet me with, "You are wearing the griffin!" I think even a few years after I graduated, when I would come back to visit the campus and I ran into you, I'd introduce myself as "the woman with the griffin."
Dale Kinney
Dear Bruni, You were a great inspiration to me as a colleague. I was in awe of your rigor, your vigor, and your extraordinary care for every one of your students, not to mention your ability to give cogent and memorable lectures without a single note! Even if I couldn't match your standards of teaching and scholarly productivity, you made me aim higher and work harder in trying. Happy Birthday!
David Kriebel (HC '83)
Dear Bruni, Happy 90th Birthday! I was not the most distinguished major, but I have managed to pull it together since your Greek Sculpture class :) Your example encouraged me in my graduate work at Penn, Hopkins, and Bryn Mawr, and I was pleased so see your name on the wall of the new library. Please accept my wishes for many happy years to come.
Elissa Lewis, M.A. '80
Dear Mrs. Ridgway, Happy 90th Birthday! It was a great privilege to have been one of your students, and your teaching made a deep impression on me. You asked us again and again, "What do we actually know about this piece?" and insisted that we be skeptical. Over the past few days I have looked over my lecture notes from your Greek Sculpture class and again enjoyed how sensitively and precisely you examined the hairstyles, clothing, and anatomical details of every piece, and am so thankful to you for the training in how to look at a piece of sculpture. (And your insistence on correct anatomical terminology popped out when, in helping my mother through an illness, I would find phrases emerging out of nowhere on the phone with the doctor: I'd be speaking of, for example, preorbital swelling, and would thank you mentally.) Thank you also for what must have been a most rare dissertation research arrangement, when I was given a nook adjacent to your office for my books and newborn child. I have been so delighted to see you occasionally at the colloquia, with all your enthusiasm and your incisive remarks. I wish you many more good years!
Andrea R. Lurie '68
I showed lantern slides for art history and archeology classes back in the late 1960s to earn money. I wasn't an archeology major, but I learned so much from listening to your classes during my slide-showing hours. Just wanted you to know that, of all the BMC profs that I remember, you were one of the most powerful and engaging teachers.
Camilla MacKay '91
Dear Bruni—I have enjoyed so much working with you on BMCR over the past few years—you have done so much to make sure our archaeology reviews are clear and well written—and then there are all your reviews for BMCR! You were so important to me as a teacher. (I still have an exam from your Greek sculpture class where I misidentified the Temple of Zeus at Olympia as the Temple of Apollo. You wrote next to it "I know you know it's Zeus," and didn't mark me down. I kept almost nothing from college but did keep this!). Happy birthday!
Michelle Mancini '91
Archaeology 102 in spring of my sophomore year was an amazing experience. Although I studied classical languages, I had very little previous exposure to ancient art. I had never been to Europe and had little exposure to art museums (and in those I visited, I probably skipped the rooms dedicated to Greek and Roman art). I knew Bruni's course was legendary, but beyond that I didn't know what to expect. From the very first days, her lectures literally changed how I saw the ancient world, human creativity, and art itself. When she taught us about the archaic smile, or about paintings of eyes and breasts, or about variations from straight lines in the Parthenon, I felt exhilarated to discover how knowledge brings into focus details that would otherwise have remained invisible. Approaching 30 years after college, I still remember Bruni's infectious passion for her field, for teaching, for the academic life.
Elaine "Rikki" Mangrum '84
Dearest Bruni, I am quite sure I think about you much more often than you think of me. This is the beautiful nature of the relationship between teachers and students. As you celebrate this milestone birthday, I hope you can reflect back on the many, many of us whose lives were forever enriched by our time in your classroom. Your infectious enthusiasm, intellectual fortitude, and good humor have been lifelong inspirations to me. Your willingness to challenge the status quo and to seek alternative explanations has been a benchmark I've tried to live up to in my own career. I wish you and your family all the best on your 90th and look forward to writing another testament to you for your 100th birthday. Buon Compleanno!
Ira S. Mark
It is a heart-felt honor to join this celebration of Bruni Ridgway on her 90th year. My appreciation for her scholarly insight, judgment and integrity, to the one side, and to the other, for her creative boldness and daring have deepened decade by decade. The foundation she has laid in her surveys and studies have been and remain a path for a new generation to follow and master. My most sincere best wishes.
Yuuna Mathew '93
Happy Birthday, Professor Ridgway! I hope you are well and have a wonderful year ahead. All the best!
Carol Mattusch '69
Congratulations, Bruni! In one of your Greek Sculpture classes you talked about Meleager in the Fog. The sculpture didn't seem to have anything to do with fog. I couldn't figure it out. Much later I saw that the sculpture was in the Fogg Art Museum. And even later than that I learned that I hadn't been the only student to have mistaken Fogg for fog. — All best wishes, and love from Carol
Jeremy McInerney
Dear Bruni, Happy Birthday and Congratulations! May you continue to inspire future generations with your generosity, good humour and deep learning! — Fondly, J.
Theresa (Tee) Michel '79
Dear Mrs. Ridgway: It was the honor and privilege of a lifetime to study classical art and archaeology with you.My subsequent studies and travels throughout the classical world and to museums were (and are) filled with appreciation because of what I learned as your student. I am ever grateful to you for opening the door to a fascinating field of study. Happy birthday to a wonderful teacher, mentor, scholar, and figure who defines my happy years at Bryn Mawr. — With love and gratitude, Theresa (Tee) Michel '79, Frederick, Md.
Stephen Mihm (HC '91)
Dear Bruni, Congratulations on your 90th! I have such fond memories of my time at Bryn Mawr. Though I was a student at Haverford, I ultimately felt so much more at home taking classes in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology. I will never forget your classes on sculpture and art—nor will I forget your ubiquitous worry beads you used to carry during lectures! I eventually went into academia, but not as an archaeologist. I became a historian and am a professor at the University of Georgia. Despite the fact that I teach classes in the history of the past two centuries, I constantly dredge up my knowledge of antiquity. Have a wonderful birthday!
Penny Milbouer '67
Happy Birthday! The one course (Archaeology 101) I took with you influenced me in profound ways. Your obvious joy about the subject affected my own choices. You demonstrated that asking the right questions was the purpose of the endeavor.
Dottie Monaghan
I loved the summer session I spent at ASCSA with you as my fearless leader in 1971. I will always remember your advice to be the first to say “police” if there is traffic altercation.
James Muhly
My wife, Polymnia is, of course, the Bryn Mawr graduate. She was a graduate student there in the late 1970s and early 1980s, receiving her Ph.D. in 1981. We were both very much involved in Bryn Mawr in the years that I taught at Penn, 1967-1997. Bruni is, of course, best known for her work in ancient Greek art, especially sculpture, but she has always had a wide range of interests. In 1993 John Boardman delivered the Andrew Mellon Lectures. These were published the following year, by the Princeton UP, The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, a massive, beautifully illustrated volume. It was reviewed by Bruni Ridgway in a remarkable review in, of course, the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, for April 1995. With her usual modesty she admitted that she knew much more about some parts of this book than others. She emerges, however, as a champion for the art and cultural creativity of Etruscan and Roman Italy. She concludes her review as follows: "as our concept of originals and copies evolves, there might come a time when excellent quality and aesthetic beauty will no longer be automatically equated with a Greek and lifeless imitation with a Roman date." This is the spirit that made Bruni Ridgway an excellent scholar and a very special human being. So, from Polymnia and myself, best wishes to Brunhilde Sismondo Ridgway for a wonderful 90th Birthday.
Polymnia Muhly, Ph.D. '81
Dear Bruni: This is from Polymnia Muhly, and her husband James. Best wishes for your 90th birthday, on 14 November. Hope you have a great birthday celebration, and wish that we could be there. — Love, Jim and Polly.
Claire Neely '69
Dear Prof. Ridgway: You made lectures and the material we needed to hear so very vivid with your passion and depth of knowledge. I still remember much of what you shared with us. You held us to a high standard but supported us with enthusiasm. I will always remember your story about getting behind a statue up high on a temple when you were pregnant to verify that it was finished in the round! Happy birthday to a great creative teacher! — Claire Graham Neely
Ruth Nelson '58
My husband and I, along with Alexa Quandt Aldridge, ’57 were on the recent Bryn Mawr trip to the Greek Isles where there were many of Bruni’s former students and much talk about her. Though I never experienced her as a professor, I was lucky enough to be here hostess when she came to Tulsa in the ‘70s to speak at “College for a Day” which was sponsored by the local Seven College Association. Bruni, I still remember how you brought honor and credit upon Bryn Mawr by your presentation and how much I enjoyed having you as a houseguest. I often have fond memories of our visit together to Gilcrease Museum. Belated, but sincere Happy Birthday.
Lucia Nixon '71
Happy Birthday, dear Bruni, and thank you for your inspirational teaching!
John H. Oakley
Have the happiest of birthdays, dear Bruni! Many of us still remember very fondly your visit to us at William and Mary many years ago. Enjoy your 90th!
Claudia Ocello '88
Bruni, Happy 90th! I continue to be in awe of you, much as I was as a student making my way up the stairs to your office on the top floor of Thomas, to discuss my senior honors paper on board games. I can't thank you enough for all you did for me while I was a student and supporting me in my career afterwards—not as an archaeologist, but as a museum educator and now, a museum consultant. I know even my Italian family was pleased that I had an Italian professor who "looked after" me during my time at Bryn Mawr. The archaeology and life lessons you taught me have never left. I'm proud to have been one of your students, and thrilled I get the chance to congratulate you and wish you all the best on your special day! Buon compleanno e tanti auguri!
Stacie Olson '86
Thank you so much for always saying "when," not "if," during your classroom lectures: when you get to this site, when you visit this museum, when you publish an article ... that kind of message really makes anything seem possible. Thank you for being such an inspiration in the classroom!
Lada Onyshkevych
I took a class at Bryn Mawr with you when I was a grad student at Penn. It was challenging and enriching! Happy birthday! Wishing you good health and happiness!
Sara Orel '84
Dear Mrs. Ridgway, I cannot count the ways you have influenced my career as an art history and archaeology professor. Your interest in your students, your infinite patience as an instructor, your style in lecturing, all are things I think about on a regular basis.I have watched friends lecture who went to Bryn Mawr at the same time I did, and who also had you for classes, and there are certain ways we all move our hands. It is the way you taught, with your hands. Thank you so very much for being the inspiration for me that you have been.
Mary Osirim
Happy 90th Birthday, Bruni. Many, many congratulations on achieving this very important milestone! Thank you for all that you have done for Bryn Mawr oner the years. We are so fortunate to have you as a member of our community! — With my very best wishes, Mary Osirim.
Nassos Papalexandrou
Happy birthday, Professor Ridgway! I will never forget our tea together at the Loring Hall Salonaki (Fall 1988), where you made me feel so comfortable and imparted to me your enthusiasm about the ASCSA and graduate research in the U.S.! Had it not been for your encouragement, I would not have pursued graduate studies in the U.S.! I wholeheartedly wish you the best on all fronts!
Nicholas Patruno
Cara Bruni, Ti chiedo scusa per il ritardo di questo mio messaggio di auguri. Di salute non sto tanto bene e questo tende a rallentare il mio già lento ritmo di attività. Questo, però, non vuol dire che sia scemato il rispetto e l’amicizia che nutro per te e Pete. Ben ricordo da quando eravamo vicini di casa e ci si vedeva spesso raccontandoci delle nostre attività e dell’incontro dei tuoi famigliari, e tu dei miei. Ricordo le gare sportive con i nostri ragazzi e, di recente, l’avermi introdotto alle opere di Camilleri. Sono contento di essere rimasti buoni amici e di esserci tenuti aggiornati con le notizie dei tuoi cari, e tu dei miei. In occasione di questo tuo compleanno, a questi tuoi anni te ne auguro altrettanti e che ti siano sani e pieni di soddisfazioni. Unito ad Edwina, ti abbraccio cordialmente. Nick
Valerie Hutchinson Pennanen '77
I will forever remember your dynamic presence in the freshman archaeology class, how much fun the class was (I wrote home about it—literally!), and how much we all enjoyed the company of your faithful little dog, Charlie. Sometimes he would trot about on the stage or take a a short nap there as you lectured; other times, he would visit us at our seats, hoping no doubt to get a bite or two of the doughnuts we'd brought from Coffee Hour. Just thinking about those days makes me smile. I'm so thankful that you were part of my College experience, and I'm delighted to wish you a very, very happy birthday! Best wishes, today and always.
Ellen Simonoff Picard '67
I took the intro class my sophomore year as an elective knowing of the reputation of the department and the professor. When I traveled to Italy and Greece after my junior year in Paris I was thrilled to see the monuments and ruins that I had only seen previously on slides projected in the lecture hall! I took my daughter to Greece after her junior semester in Paris so that I could share this experience with her. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge with me! A very happy birthday to you!
John Pikala
Dear Professor Ridgway, In the 1971 American School of Classical Studies in Athens summer program, I was one of your students. I fondly remember your scholarship and preparation: you gave extended, complex lectures on site, without notes. I remember your enthusiasm and humor. And I remember that you patiently indulged me—a Latin and classical humanities school teacher with very little Greek—as I spoke about the Battle of Sphacteria to our group, gathered on the island.You were a treasure then, and I celebrate you now! Happy Birthday! — With appreciation and affection, John Pikala
François Queyrel
Dear Bruni, Filia ktema es aei. Très bon anniversaire et plein de voeux et d’amitiés. François
Thomas Roby (HC '79)
Dear Bruni, Your teaching of Arch 101 convinced me to major in archaeology, and although I decided to pursue a career in archaeological conservation in graduate school, your inspired teaching has been a great influence in my life. Every time I have the opportunity to see or work on Greek or Roman sculpture, most recently the Ludovisi throne in Palazzo Altemps in Rome, I am reminded of you. I regret that I have not seen you since graduating from Haverford/Bryn Mawr, despite being a frequent attender of AIA annual meetings over the years, but I wish you a very happy 90th birthday (two days after mine, another Scorpio!). With gratitude for all you have done to impact my life and career and all the other Haverford and Bryn Mawr archaeology students who have gone on to such impressive careers in archaeology.
Jennifer Ross '89
Happy Birthday! I'm so honored to have had the opportunity to have studied with you. I learned so much about being a professor from you, and hope that I manage to offer my students even a small part of the love of learning and of teaching that you conveyed every day. Many, many happy returns!
Tamara Ohr Ross '87
Happiest of birthdays, Mrs. Ridgway. I loved your intro class, which I took either as a sophomore or junior. I remember the questions on the final exam leading me to learn new things and make new connections. Even then I marveled at a teacher who could make an exam that taught new material and did not just prompt a regurgitation of things we'd already learned. Thank you for a remarkable experience.
Lynn Rozental '79
I have such a nice memory of your class as a freshman in 1975-76. Our assignment over the holiday break was to visit a museum in our hometown, choose an object, and write a paper about it. I didn't see how this was going to be possible, and told you so, explaining that my hometown was Burlington, Vermont. Your reply? "The University of Vermont's Fleming Museum has two very nice objects that would be suitable." And you were right. They had exactly two.Your knowledge of your field is incredible. I feel fortunate to have studied with you. Best wishes for a lovely 90th birthday.
David W. Rupp, Ph.D. '74
Χρονιά πολλά από την Αθηνα, Bruni! On this auspicious occasion I send you my warmest birthday greetings. It is hard to believe that more than 45 years have past since you guided me from afar on finalizing my dissertation. Throughout my teaching career your enthusiastic, active way of teaching inspired me to emulate your effective approach. Your openness to the needs and problems of your students made me aware of the importance of pastoral support in an university community. Your attention to detail and comprehensiveness in conducting research have formed the foundations of my scholarly work. Your willingness to risk presenting bold ideas in your writing has given me courage to express my insights into the past. Thank you ever so much for your active support and encouragement over the years. All of this and more have helped me to craft a long, diverse and successful career in archaeology and in education.The next time I'm in Philadelphia I will come to visit you. — Fondly, David
Emily Baillargeon Russin '91
Dear Professor Ridgway, I recently came across a paper I wrote for you from your 102 course, way back in 1989, and I had to laugh, mostly because I got carried away by my own literary bluster, and you, who didn't miss a beat, commented on my thesis with, "I am afraid I disagree!" Your class mesmerized and challenged me, and opened up worlds that I decided to immerse myself in, as a late-registering Greek major my junior year. Although it was not my strongest suit (English was, see above), I reveled in that history, its language, and its utterly captivating stories and artistic mastery. Thank you, for pushing those doors wide open. I wish you much happiness on this, the occasion of your birthday, and think of you with great affection and admiration.
Jeremy Rutter (HC '67)
Dear Bruni: Mega-congratulations on reaching the august age of 90. You have always been an inspiration, as teacher, scholar, and caring person. Despite never having taken a course from you, I read and used your scholarship in my own teaching for multiple decades. Thank you so much for being the remarkable human being that you are! Very best wishes on this memorable occasion
Marian Sagan '62
Happy 90th birthday to one of my favorite teachers at BMC. You made classical art come alive. — Marian Hill Sagan
Danuta Shanzer '77
Dear Bruni, A very happy 90th birthday! So many, many happy memories. Meeting you with my parents at the pre-freshman day in 1974. The privilege of studying Archaeology with you. I still have my notes from the spring of 1975 somewhere in my archives! Seeing you again in Berkeley after I got my first job there. And at Bryn Mawr more recently. I may have become a Late and Medieval Latinist, but you helped instill in me a lifelong pleasure in learning how to read the material past, preferably contrapposto and not too many potsherds. — With love from Vienna, Danuta.
Lisa Kuchman Sabbahy '72
Wishing you a very happy birthday, and hope you have many more. I am so glad I started off my "journey" to become an Egyptologist by studying archaeology at Bryn Mawr. I loved my classes with you and Prof. Mellink, and I know that the training I received from the Archaeology Department shaped me into a scholar. I have been a professor of Egyptology for many years now at the American University in Cairo. "May you live a hundred years," which is what we say at birthdays in Egypt.
Paul Scotton
I have said for some time now that the best course I took while at Penn was your yearlong seminar on Architectural Sculpture at Bryn Mawr. I still say it. Warmest regards and may you have the happiest of birthdays.
Kris Seaman
Happy Birthday! As a graduate student, I was fortunate enough to take your seminar and to attend your Sather Lectures about Greek architectural sculpture when you were in Berkeley during the 1996-1997 academic year. Thanks for being such a wonderful professor, and thanks for all your contributions to the field!
Grace Seiberling '65
I had the privilege of getting paid to audit archaeology classes by showing slides. It was a wonderful complement to my art history studies. The most memorable moment was when you, probably seven months pregnant, demonstrated the moves of a discus thrower. I am sure you are still manifesting that inimitable enthusiasm and energy, if not quite in the same way.
Beth Severy-Hoven '90
Congratulations and Happy Birthday to you! I think of you every time I teach about sculpture, which I am happy to say is not infrequently, even though I'm an historian. Your training has served me so well. When I was working on my PhD in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology, Crawford Greenwalt asked me to identify some sculptural reliefs at my oral qualifying exams. My advisor shifted in his seat uncomfortably—I hadn't taken any art history courses at Berkeley. When I started diagnosing the archaic style and slender hands that looked to me south Italian, my advisor relaxed, but Greenie looked puzzled. "How do you know so much about Greek sculpture?" the third committee member asked. "I took three undergraduate courses from Bruni Ridgeway," replied I. "Oh, well, I shouldn't have even bothered," concluded Dr. Greenwalt. Thanks so much for all you have given me—which includes your good cheer in addition to such expert knowledge!
Maria Coutroubaki Shaw '67
My message is: Much love to you!
Kathleen Slane '71, '73 M.A., '78 Ph.D.
Dear Bruni, I hope that you have a happy birthday and are pleased with this joint gift. The only way I can imagine that you are 90 is to remember that I am over 70 and that most of my memories of you are 40 and 50 years old. Unfortunately they do no include photographs but my visual memory is full of pictures of you. The first one is probably just you walking in front of Thomas Library; you were a phenomenon to students who were awe-struck that you were back at work just a few days after Christopher's birth. Lectures, senior seminar, sitting in your kitchen while you made gnocchi. Perhaps the high point was the trip you made with the whole family to Hawaii for Jim's and my wedding — and the low point was certainly when the plane tickets went missing! (Kevin and Eric were still in touch with my family several years later.) After that our meetings were naturally fewer but have been about once every five or 10 years. Since the last time I saw you was when you came to Aybala's graduation (2012), we must be due again soon. With love and respect, Kathy Slane.
Joanna S. Smith, '89 M.A., '94 Ph.D.
Dear Bruni, Many happy returns and all the best for your birthday. I think of you often as I work on The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art's new ancient gallery. Many of the 200 pieces to be on display are sculptures from Cyprus. Yes, indeed, finally I am working on sculpture! And what fun I am having and how much I learn each day. Very best wishes.
Kennedy Smith '79
Happy birthday, Mrs. Ridgway! I didn’t originally intend to take Archaeology classes at Bryn Mawr. Long story short, I wanted to persuade my parents that I wanted to go to Bryn Mawr, so I found an obscure major - Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology - and persuaded them that that’s what I wanted to study, so Bryn Mawr was the only option for me. So, I found myself in your Archaeology 101 class in the fall of 1975. That class changed my life. Although I didn’t major in Archaeology (I majored in Cities), your Archaeology 101 class ultimately laid the groundwork for my career in historic preservation-based economic development. Something you said that semester about the importance of looking at archaeological evidence while holding conclusions at arm’s length stuck with me. After Bryn Mawr, and graduate school in architecture, I cobbled together a methodology for examining the economic performance of historic downtowns and your words about evidence and conclusions echoed in my head the entire time. I went on to build a career in downtown economic development. My Cities classes were of course helpful in this - but your fabulous, brilliant, and often hilarious lessons in data and artifact interpretation shaped the contours of my approach to economic development research. — Kennedy Smith ’79. Principal and founder, Community Land Use + Economics Group, LL Former CEO, National Main Street Center/National Trust for Historic Preservation
Gregory Staley
Dear Bruni, I was able to benefit from your knowledge and enthusiasm when I was in the summer school in Athens. I have always been a word and lit person but I was so excited by your explorations of Greek art that I felt that you could have converted me had I only had the time to study with you. My wife majored in Latin at Bryn Mawr and remembers you fondly as well. Congratulations on your 90th! — Sincerely, Greg Staley, Professor of Classics, University of Maryland
Arthur Steinburg
Hi, Bruni. A very happy 90th birthday to you on this great day!
Andrew Stewart
Χρόνια πολλά and Tanti auguri, Bruni! May you continue to inform, instruct, inspire, and infuriate for many years yet! — All best, as ever, Andy
Laning Pepper Thompson '62
Bruni, you gave me my only happy memories of majoring in Archaeology from 1958 to 1962. I was the “Black Sheep” of the department then, because I had become so disengaged with the way the subject was generally being treated that I tried to jump ship by switching to English in the fall of my junior year. It was too late to switch majors and still graduate with my class, so I felt stuck with archaeology. However, you, Bruni, were always lively, engaging and kind, and at our graduation garden party, you said the nicest thing to me you could have: “Miss Pepper, your comprehensive exams … they weren't bad!” I pursued a career in newspaper journalism and editing, but finally, in my late sixties, I got a chance to participate in an actual dig at the Ghost Ranch in N.M.; I’ve volunteered to catalog Ancestral Puebloan artifacts in the museum lab there over the last 10 years. I have also loved visiting Greece (six times since 2004!), touring classical sites and trying to dredge up factoids from my Bryn Mawr days. This summer I had a great time showing the Acropolis in Athens and Akrotiri on Thera to my youngest granddaughter, age 10.
Catherine D. Vanderpool '66
Happy Birthday, dear Bruni! Your passion for sculpture and the ancient world, your infectious enthusiasm and warmth, your love of your family and your students made an indelible, lifelong impression on me as on so many others. Without you, life's journey would have been very different. Thank you!
Kaddee Vitelli
Warm wishes for a splendid 90th, with plentiful thanks for, in addition to scholarship, providing a really positive model for a happy life as a woman in archaeology back when there were way too few. — Kaddee Vitelli, Class of 1974, University of Pennsylvania
Maria Vlachou
Chère Bruni, C’est un immense honneur pour moi de pouvoir me joindre à cette belle communauté d’amis et de collègues pour vous souhaiter un très joyeux anniversaire. J’espère de tout cœur que vous êtes en bonne santé, que vous profitez pleinement de la vie et de vos proches et que vous transmettez aussi généreusement vos connaissances, vastes et rares. Je ne vous remercierai assez pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour moi. Mon mari et mes deux enfants (Ioannis, 14 ans, et Mélina, 10 ans) vous envoient également leurs pensées les plus chaleureuses et leurs vœux les plus sincères. Je vous embrasse fort. — Maria Vlachou Ph.D., Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture) Rights Director, Humanities Review Committee, Editions du Seuil
Betsy Watkins '61
Dear Bruni: I remember so fondly traveling with you to Sicily in 1979. And in October, 2018, my husband and I were in the archaeological museum in Florence and met the director, Mario Iozzo, who was pleased to learn that I know you as he has long admired your work.so, it was a wonderful BMC connection! — Betsy Havens Watkins
Anne Weis, Ph.D. '76
Dear Bruni: As a graduate student I was terrified of you. The extent of your knowledge and the speed with which you perceived the weaknesses in an argument were completely unnerving and, in the early stages of working on my dissertation with you, I once jumped behind a bush when I saw you approaching on campus because I knew that you wanted a sentient chapter and that my latest attempts could not possibly withstand your scrutiny. But you are also a person who appreciates industry and effort, so I was eventually able (Chapter 3?) to stop leaping behind bushes and to appreciate the unflagging energy of your support as I finished the dissertation and began my career. You wrote many, many letters for me; you gave me your wedding suit so that I would have something professional to wear in my new job; you pulled me into the ladies’ restroom minutes before I gave my first talk at the AIA and convinced me over my terrified resistance to switch two paragraphs (and the related slides) around to improve the flow; for years you included me in publications, symposia, and never failed to read things that I sent you for your opinion even though the desk in your aerie on the third floor (which I knew well) was always piled high with things awaiting your attention. You have always been a model for me, for the directness and clarity of your professional opinion, your diplomacy in delivering it, and for your unflagging personal support of me and of the many others you have helped into and throughout our professional (and other aspects of our) lives. I wish you a very, very Happy Birthday and so many more to come!
Martha Heath Wiencke '52
Happy Birthday, Bruni! I remember you well! I shall be 90 next year...did my archaeological work at Lerna, Greece, through the America School (the House of the Tiles). Early Helladic.
David G. Wilkins
Hi Bruni, Happy 90th birthday wishes to you! (I just had my 80th, so I'm not far behind you.) I have such happy memories of our interactions when you swept into Pittsburgh as our Mellon Professor! You brought the ancient world to life for our students. … Enjoy the celebrations!
Ann Thomas Wilkins
Best wishes for a most happy birthday! When you were at the University of Pittsburgh and I was contemplating whether or not to accept a one year replacement offer from Vassar College, you were supportive and encouraged me to do so. This decision eventually led to a permanent position at Duquesne University, which enriched — nd continues to enrich— our lives. Thank you your kindness and wisdom.
Nancy A. Winter, Ph.D. '74
Dear, dear Bruni, I am wishing you every happiness for your 90th birthday! What a wonderful occasion to reflect on all you have accomplished and all the lives you have impacted. How often I think about the many ways in which studying with you changed the course of my life, directing me towards the American School of Classical Studies and my lifelong career there. But at the same time encouraging my love of Italy and its ancient cultures. My life would have been considerably more conventional if I had not met you! — Tanti carissimi saluti e auguri, Nancy
Sarah Wisseman, '81 Ph.D.
Many happy returns, Bruni. I remember when I asked you very early on how you juggled babies and a full-time teaching job. You answered, "You just balance the babies in one hand and your books in the other." And so that is what I did! Good advice.
Bea Witten '62
Mrs. Ridgway, You were so spirited and open and fun and interesting! You were part of the college I loved, and Greek sculpture was a joy. I wish we had also studied the tools that made such marvels possible. I hope, and trust, that you have enjoyed your life and aspirations. Thank you, Bea Preyer.
Lisa Woodside '73
Hello Dr. Ridgway, I audited many of your courses while I was a Warden in Marion and Denbigh and writing my dissertation on Homer. Miss Lang was my advisor. You are the greatest. You give magnificent lectures well backed up with slides. I was shy then and did not tell you in person how much you augmented my understanding and love of the ancient world. I am glad to wish you a "Happy "Birthday" for you 90th year. You are admired and loved by me. You have added much that is good to my life. Thank you.
John Younger
Happy Birthday, Bruni! Through Paul Rehak I got to meet and know you — beyond the many publications and books and ideas that I have absorbed in my own career. You continue to be an inspiration!!
Brunilde Ridgway, Rhys Carpenter Professor Emeritus of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, is celebrating her 90th birthday. In honor of this milestone, her former students, colleagues, and friends have been invited to share memories of their beloved mentor, teacher, and friend. View the list of messages.