If there was a “Wide World of K Award,” or “Institutional Seat of Memory” (a.k.a. “The Hippocampus Chair”), then surely Joe Fugate would be a top contender.

“Since my family became established in Kalamazoo in 1961,” he says, “the College has been the center of our lives.

“Most of our friends have come from the College community. Since 1967 we have lived in the same house one block from the campus. Our neighbors were predominantly members of the College community—the Chens, the Jeff Smiths, Claire Myers, Marigene Arnold, and the Boards, among others. Our children grew up with other faculty children, and our daughter, Erika, is an alum.

“At various times K students lived with us. We have corresponded extensively with students from our earliest K days. Just recently we met virtually with eight of the members of the Class of 1965 who were with us in Bonn in 1963/64.

“I also maintain a clearing house of information about retired faculty and staff and College happenings. Sadly, as we grow older together, these numbers shrink. Hardly a week goes by that we do not take note of the passing of a member of the community.”

Fugate was born on Halloween in 1931 and was reared in East St. Louis, Ill. He graduated from Southern Illinois University and did his graduate study in German at Princeton University. Between undergraduate and graduate school, he worked as an interpreter and translator in the U.S. Army in Germany.

In 1961 he was appointed assistant professor of German at Kalamazoo College, where he remained until his retirement, if it can be said that he ever retired.

Says Fugate: “I consider the impact I had on many of my students and my continued relationship with them my greatest service.”

During his K years he was active in various professional circles, including the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Association of Teachers of German, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the Council on International Educational Exchange, and others. In these organizations, Fugate made many friends and contacts, “and I have cherished these relationships.”

Fugate was a frequent reviewer of books (German and English), a prolific presenter of papers, and author of many articles. He wrote one book and retired as the longest serving field bibliographer for the MLA International Bibliography.

His many honors include, among others: Southern Illinois University Honors Society; Woodrow Wilson Fellow; Honorary Fellow of the Institute for American Universities, Aix-en-Provence, France; Honorary Member of Phi Beta Kappa; Verdienstkreuz erster Klasse, Federal Republic of Germany; Ordre Palmes Academique, France; and Grande Medaille de la Ville de Caen, France.

Fugate and his wife Louise married in 1953. They have three children, 10 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. “I owe my family, and especially Louise, a special debt of gratitude,” says Fugate. “They carried on during my frequent overseas absences when I directed the College’s foreign study program.”

Though retired, Fugate finds himself quite busy. “I continue to do things for the College; I’m on my computer daily with correspondence and inquiries; I still do translations. Never a dull moment.”