Western Michigan University will miss Elen Cutrim, Ph.D.

Nearly a year ago I wrote an article remembering the life of a history professor whose class I had the previous semester.

Professor Peter Schmitt, who taught Art and Architecture in America had been a passionate individual about his teachings before retiring at the end of last year.

It was truly sad that he was barely given the time to enjoy his retirement before his death later in the summer of 2008.

Now, less than a year later another professor at Western has passed away and another brilliant, dedicated and passionate mind has been lost.

Elen Cutrim, Ph.D.,  passed away April 15 at the age of 62.

Cutrim, who joined the WMU community in 1990, was an influential member of the geography department and was widely respected by her colleagues and students alike.

Cutrim, who was born in Brazil, was unwaveringly passionate about her field of study, which was a fact made obvious simply by hearing her teach.

With a strong Brazilian accent, it was a challenge at times to understand her, especially when she was excited about a particular topic, but for those students who cared enough to pay close attention, her words were as clear as can be and their content filled with the knowledge that few people will ever possess.

I took Cutrim’s Geography 2250 Introduction to Meteorology and Climatology class this past fall semester and enjoyed the challenge of the class.

As a four credit hour class, the workload was certainly significant, but the class was presented in a way that was both interesting and thought provoking.

Cutrim would always walk into the classroom bundled up like it was freezing outside, with her warm mug of coffee.

She would always tease us about how cold Michigan was and tell stories about either living or conducting research in the much warmer climate of her home country.

This particular class had two teaching assistants along with Cutrim, and seeing their respect for her on a daily basis made it quite clear the type of person that she was.

Already in a fragile state, the TA’s also went the extra mile to make her job as easy as possible.

Unfortunately, Cutrim didn’t even last the entire semester. She got progressively worse throughout the semester until she told us that she would soon be leaving to obtain treatment for her tumor.

So, a little over halfway through the semester, Cutrim was replaced by another professor in the geography department as she went to seek treatment, something that she had been forced to do at least one time prior to this incident.

My roommate took Cutrim’s class during the 2007-08 school year and reported that she had left their class during the semester as well to seek treatment for the same condition.

Illnesses can be such terrible, debilitating things, and to have to struggle through them for years on end must be incomprehensibly terrible; beyond the understanding of any of us who have been lucky enough so far to have never dealt with such things.

Yet after her first leave of absence for treatment, Cutrim was resilient enough to make a comeback to WMU to continue her passion for teaching and research and undoubtedly would have done so again if she had been able to.

Cutrim was slated to retire at the end of this summer as a direct result of the disease that she was struggling to beat, but unfortunately for her and all those who loved and cared for her, she was unable to make that date.

For anyone who had the privilege of having one of her classes, or conducting research with her, or merely seeing her bright smile in the halls of Wood Hall, consider yourselves lucky to have been able to meet such a wonderful person.

Western Michigan University owes nothing less than a debt of gratitude to Cutrim for the many years that she worked at this institution, through all of which she was a positive influence to all those around her.

Rest in peace Elen Cutrim, you will be missed by all.

Andrew Mell, a Western Herald opinion columnist, is a senior majoring in aviation, and can be reached via e-mail at melltimejr@hotmail.com.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=5845

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Apr 20 2009. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com