Celebrating the career of Professor Lawrence Lombard
After an extraordinary 54 years at Wayne State University, Professor Lawrence Lombard retired in May after an illustrious career that left a positive impact on his colleagues, students and the field of philosophy.
Upon receiving his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Stanford University in 1969, Professor Lombard was promptly hired at Wayne State University. "After overcoming my fear (and nausea) at being in front of a classroom, every day that I walked into a classroom was pretty much a joy. I got to talk about things that interested me, I got to tell my philosophical stories and on occasion, I inspired a student. What could be better?!"
He quickly realized, however, that the answer to this question is tenure, which he received in 1976 after coming within a nail-biting ten days of unemployment.
Reflecting on his achievements, Professor Lombard says, "my experiences at Wayne State continually reminded me that, philosophically, it does take a village. I have been fortunate enough to have "grown up" philosophically with colleagues who have been enormously generous with their time and their knowledge, and they made me a much better philosopher than I would otherwise have been." He expresses deep gratitude to early faculty members such as Gail Stine, Larry Powers and Mike McKinsey for helping Lombard's book, Events: A Metaphysical Study, realize its full potential. He credits much of his intellectual growth over the years to guest speakers such as W.V. Quine, Saul Kripke, David Kaplan, Jaakko Hintikka and Wilfred Sellars.
Professor Lombard bids farewell to our department with fond memories of his students. Over the years teaching metaphysics and event theory, "both graduate and undergraduate [students] have impressed me with their drive and enthusiasm. And when they did fully engage with a philosophical problem, they pursued it vigorously." So vigorously, in fact, that they have been known to leave class arguing about the correct solution to the Ship of Theseus problem!
He also leaves with exciting plans for his now-abundant free time: practicing therapy work, agility training and tennis ball throwing with his beloved Labrador Retriever, Sedona, traveling to Paris and Normandy with his (equally beloved) wife, Nancy and revisiting his passion for photography. Professor Lombard still has some philosophical cards up his sleeve, though and intends to push a few more twilight projects out for publication.
When asked what advice he has for those of us who still have many years left in the field, he says, "since journals often reject an article for no particularly good reason, always have the next journal already picked out!" Also, "Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. That is, do not let the fact that your work is not "perfect" prevent you from trying to get it published." Finally, in hopes that no matter where our academic or personal pursuits take us, that we all "get lucky!"
Professor Lombard held numerous positions during his time in the department, including department chair, department webmaster, a member of the Promotion and Tenure, Curriculum and Salary Committees, Director of Undergraduate Studies, a member of the Committee on General Education and has supervised several M.A. students and Ph.D. candidates. He has been an active participant in the broader Wayne State community, serving on multiple academic senates, councils, committees and advisory panels for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
For his dedicated service to the field of higher education, his friendship and spirit of collegiality, his enthusiasm for teaching and student success-and, of course, for his many wonderful stories-Professor Lombard will be much missed by the philosophy department.