A celebration to honor the life of Professor Robert Simon, who died on May 31, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 8, at 4 p.m. in the Chapel. The event is open to the public and will include remembrances by family, friends, and Hamilton alumni and colleagues. A reception in the Wellin Atrium of the Taylor Science Center will follow.
Simon came to Hamilton in 1968 where he taught philosophy and, for many years, served as Hamilton’s golf coach. An authority on sports ethics and the author of Fair Play: Sports, Values and Society, Simon was named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators by the Institute of International Sport. At Hamilton, he received the Dean’s Scholarly Achievement Award, the Student Assembly’s Sidney J. Wertimer Award, and the Samuel & Helen Lang Prize for Excellence in Teaching, among other honors.
In 2010, the Hamilton Alumni Association honored Simon with its Distinguished Service Award. The citation read, in part: “You embody the spirit of community that exemplifies Hamilton College not only through your tireless commitment to students, but through your modesty, humor, and devotion to family, friends, and colleagues.”
In October 2017, President David Wippman announced that the College’s new golf practice facility would be named in honor of Simon, and the 2018 Bell Ringer Award, Hamilton’s highest alumni honor, was presented in his memory at Reunions in June.
