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Pomona College Magazine is published three times a year by Pomona College
550 N. College Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
Online Editor: Mark Kendall
For editorial matters:
Editor: Mark Wood
Phone: (909) 621-8158
Fax: (909) 621-8203
PCM Editorial Guidelines
Contact Alumni Records for changes of address, class notes, or notice
of births or deaths.
Phone: (909) 621-8635
Fax: (909) 621-8535
Email: alumni@pomona.edu
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Four faculty members who retired in 2004 left their mark on the College.
Leaving an Impression
Jürgen Froehlich
 As a professor of German, Jürgen Froehlich demanded excellence from his
students and rewarded their efforts with a tireless enthusiasm for even
the most elementary class discussion. According to colleagues, he showed
unstinting student support outside the classroom as well. Regularly, he
supported students at Oldenborg language events and activities; and over
the years, he broadened students’ perspectives by inviting speakers to
campus and by serving as a liaison to the German language programs for
the Office of Study Abroad.
Froehlich earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the
University of California, Riverside. In 1975, Froehlich was appointed to
Pomona as an assistant professor of German and director of the foreign
language laboratory in Mason Hall.
The technological improvements to the language lab spearheaded by
Froehlich early on in his career and made possible by several of his own
successful grant proposals may prove to be his most generous and lasting
contribution to the College. Expanding the College’s facilities from
earphones and audiotapes to interactive, multi-media labs required
patience and incremental steps. Froehlich is to be remembered not only
for his savvy and technological forethought but also as the champion of
a proactive approach toward teaching and a progressive view on
curriculum enhancements.
At a retirement party in May, friend and colleague Richard Sheirich,
professor emeritus of German, summed up Froehlich well, simply stating
that “Jürgen was consistently, refreshingly, and inspirationally engaged
in the ongoing process of teaching. He has undeniably led the Modern
Languages and Literatures department into the modern technological
world.”
Marjorie Harth
 Those who know art historian Marjorie “Cricket” Harth say that she is a
“deflector” of praise. During her 23 years as director of The Galleries
of the Claremont Colleges and, later, the Remple Director of the Pomona
College Museum of Art, she has been described by her colleagues as a
collaborator, one who claims that nothing accomplished by the Museum was
done single-handedly.
Harth earned her bachelor’s degree in art history from Smith College;
she received her master’s degree in art history and museum practice and
her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. After professional
appointments at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London, the
Flint Institute of Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art and teaching at the
University of Michigan, Kenyon College and Michigan State University,
she received a joint appointment as director of The Galleries and
assistant professor of art history
at Pomona.
During her tenure, Harth broadened the use of the Museum facilities by
faculty, staff and students; helped build the College’s permanent
collection, including invaluable preparatory drawings for the Prometheus
fresco; and found support and counsel from a volunteer group known
formally as the Pomona College Museum of Art Advisory Committee. She and
her colleagues established the Project Series, its purpose to bring art
that is experimental and introduces new forms, techniques and concepts
to campus. In addition, she planned dozens of exhibitions—highlighting
works from the permanent collection as well as specially-curated
exhibitions.
Over the years, Cricket Harth has led a creative, productive career
teaching, writing and curating exhibitions. Along the way, her
enthusiasm and passion for art has left an indelible impression.
Gary Troyer
 Recognized as a quintessential Division III coach, Professor of Physical
Education Gary Troyer has led both the men’s and women’s aquatics teams
to repeated victories over the course of
his tenure.
A native of Oakland, California, Troyer earned his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the University of Redlands, thereafter becoming
the head swimming and water polo coach. In fall 1970, Troyer was
appointed assistant professor of physical education for men at Pomona.
“His competence as a professor is undeniable,” says Professor Pat
Mulcahy, long-standing men’s track and field coach. “Gary understood the
academic demands that his swimmers faced, designing his courses to be
both rigorous and fun. He appreciated his students’ efforts and truly
enjoyed their company.”
Adding a distinctly human touch to the sports program, Troyer often
treated his teams and fellow department members to feasts of smoked
salmon or carne asada on the deck of Haldeman Pool and to lobster
cookouts, surfing and off-coast diving at his beachside home north of
Ensenada, Mexico. During his career, he has toured with SCIAC water polo
players in the People’s Republic of China, coaching the undergraduates
in tournament play against teams from Beijing, Nanking and Canton. At
home in Claremont, Troyer has been dedicated to the promotion of water
safety through the American Red Cross, to lifeguard training and life
saving, and to SCUBA and sailing instruction. It’s no surprise that
visiting alumni head out to the pool decks in search of Troyer.
Steven Young
 If one were to name two characteristics emblematic of the teaching style
of Steven Young, the Vanderzyl Reynolds Professor of English, they would
be a desire to stimulate the minds of young writers and actors and an
insatiable mastery of the material. A member of the faculty since 1967,
Young earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and M.A. and
Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.
Specializing in dramatic literature and theater history, including a
special emphasis on the works of Samuel Beckett, Young has brought to
the classroom a unique opportunity to read and analyze as well as
perform and critique the dramatic works chosen for his ambitious syllabi
over the years. The performance aspect of his classes was facilitated
when, in 1991, Young installed the Panitechnicon Stage System in the
basement classroom of Crookshank Hall. The portable stage, sound and
lighting system allowed Young to merge traditional classroom discussion
with first-hand knowledge gained directly from dramatic performance.
Young, a producer, director, lighting and sound designer, as well as
performer, easily led his students to an understanding of how the
artistic choices made in dramatic presentations can wholly transform the
experience of the viewer. Always fascinated by the theatrical process
and the mutability of the spectator’s experience, Young spent a career
merging traditional literary history with the dramatic. He leaves for
generations a successful outline for hands-on learning by young
dramatists.
—By Erika Gamst ’01
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