Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 26, 2007|Volume 36, Number 8

Robert Farris Thompson

Yale’s longest-serving master
reappointed for two more years

Robert Farris Thompson, Yale’s longest-serving residential college master, has been reappointed as master of Timothy Dwight College (TD) for another two years, beginning July 1, 2008.

“Master T,” as he is affectionately known around campus, has been the TD master since 1978. He is the Colonel John Trumbull Professor of the History of Art and a leading authority on African and Afro-American art and music. Thompson is the author of eight books and catalogues, including “Black Gods and Kings; Yorubu Art at UCLA,” “African Art in Motion: Icon and Act in the Collection of Katharine Coryton White,” “Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy” and “Face of the Gods: Art and Altars of Africa and the African Americas.” He has also written articles for publications ranging from scholarly journals to The Village Voice and the Saturday Review.

Thompson teaches two popular courses at Yale, one on the black Atlantic visual tradition and another on New York mambo. For the latter, his students have learned African-influenced dance and martial arts.

“‘Master T’ is completely dedicated to TD, and he possesses a tremendous capacity to draw students and fellows together for immersion into intramurals, politics and the arts,” said President Richard C. Levin in a letter to the TD community announcing Thompson’s reappointment. “Those of you in the Class of 2010 are especially fortunate: Master T will graduate with you, and you can be sure that the celebration will include a rousing mambo!”

At TD, Thompson heads the Chubb Fellowship, which has brought to campus numerous world and national leaders, as well as famed performers.

The art historian holds three degrees from Yale, a B.A. (1955), M.A. (1961) and Ph.D. (1965). In 2003, he was awarded the first Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Art, and he has received research grants from the Ford Foundation, the National Institute of Medicine and Science, the National Institute of the Museums of Zaire and the National Gallery of Art, among others.

He has served on the Joint Committee on African Studies of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies, and has chaired the Humanities Committee of the African Studies Association.

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Campus Notes