Celebrating BUA’s Retiring Teachers

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
– Henry Adams

One sign of a great school is long teacher tenure; many BUA teachers say that they would find it hard to teach anywhere else because of how much they love their students and value their colleagues. BUA is a place where great teachers long to be, stay for many years, and, eventually, retire. After 10 and 23 years respectively of wonderful service to BUA, two beloved teachers, Dr. Gordon Harvey and Dr. Richard Horn, have decided to retire at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year. Their departure — along with that of Liz Cellucci, who retired from BUA last summer after 20 years of teaching visual arts — marks an important moment in the life of the school. We will have an opportunity to celebrate our retiring teachers at a virtual event on Thursday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. Register to receive the Zoom link here!

Gordon Harvey
Tenure at BUA: 2011-2021

Colleagues, students, parents, and alumni know Gordon Harvey as a wise, flexible, inspiring mentor and friend. In his time at BUA, Gordon has taught American Literature to ten years of juniors, Foundations in Language and Logic to eight years of freshmen, and advised nearly sixty senior theses. Informed by his decades of leadership and teaching at Harvard’s undergraduate and graduate writing programs, Gordon masterfully leads BUA students through a discovery of their own writing styles: pushing for clear, non-jargony articulation of values and concepts; enjoining student writers to value the word “but”; and helping them identify motive and counter-argument. In class, he encourages students to engage with authors by reading practically. He presents artistic works as fraught with interesting challenges and problems, without insisting that we solve them. Devoted to the institution and its humanistic ideals, Gordon has served on the curriculum, mission and core values, and senior thesis committees — in all spaces, championing broad and fearless reading, intellectual seriousness worn lightly, unstuffy care for good language, and teaching that’s gentle but challenging. Most of all, Gordon cares about people. He is always ready with a word of encouragement and a gentle push. To his colleagues, he is a trusted friend, open ear, and source of comfort and quiet wit.

Liz Cellucci
Tenure at BUA: 2000-2020

Visual Arts teacher Liz Cellucci announced her retirement in the summer of 2020, following a 20-year career at the school. Beloved by generations of BUAers, her students and advisees admired and respected Liz for her nurturing support and kindness and her sharp eye for form and detail. Liz is also the mother of two BUA graduates: Mia ‘06 and Stephen ‘03. The BUA art studio — in the early years, a repurposed classroom on the ground floor of the main building, and later, a light-filled space in the renovated arts wing — was an oasis for many, a place to connect, create, and unwind. Liz fostered growth in students of all skill levels, coaxing beautiful and meaningful work from every student who stepped through her door. Recognizing talent and ability in each of her students was one of Liz’s superpowers; she used it to help those who approached visual arts with more trepidation discover and unlock their own creativity. Her artistic spirit permeated every facet of BUA, from faculty meetings, where she encouraged the consideration of each child as an individual soul, to the hallways of BUA, where she proudly displayed the work of all her students. Liz’s grace, her love for students, and her attention to detail helped to make BUA the school it is. And she helped elevate the visual arts to its rightful place as a celebrated part of the BUA academic pantheon.

Rich Horn
Tenure at BUA: 1998-2021

In his 23 years at BUA, Rich Horn has taught hundreds of BUA students American history with his characteristic passion, humor, insight, and insistence on deep and joyful exploration. He has taught ninth and tenth grade, as well as senior seminars (a program he helped launch) like The Darwinian Revolution, The Literature of Man and Nature, and The Crises of the 20th Century. Students left their time in Rich’s classes reading, writing, talking, and thinking more critically, analytically, synthetically, creatively, and sympathetically. Outside the classroom, there are few jobs he has not done. He has served as Director of Discipline, Director of Studies, University Liaison, and a member of the Admissions Committee. Rich has advised the Debate Society, guided students through dozens of senior thesis projects, and spent many sleepless hours chaperoning Lock-In. More broadly, Rich has guided this school through its childhood, adolescence, and now, early adulthood. He was a steady voice in the school’s early years when the institution was just finding its way. He carried the cultural torch, insisting that BUA be and remain a place where intense intellectual exploration and fun traveled together: in his words, “At its best, the Academy was a place of laughing conversation among students, teachers, faculty, and the greatest minds of the past and present.” The thriving school we are today is a central part of Rich’s legacy.

Great Teachers Fund

Gordon Harvey, Liz Cellucci, and Rich Horn will honored as part of the The Great Teachers Fund. The Boston University Academy Great Teachers Fund honors retired teachers by supporting current faculty members’ efforts to improve their teaching and their students’ experience. Income from the fund underwrites, inter alia, the cost of faculty professional development and stipends for curricular revision in ways that are aligned with BUA’s strategic priorities. The Fund was established as a permanent endowment with a gift from Ruth A. Moorman (CAS ’88, Wheelock ’89, Wheelock ’09, P BUA ’15) and Sheldon N. Simon (P BUA ’15), parents of Sarah Simon ’15, in honor of Phil Gambone, and in celebration and commemoration of BUA’s 25th anniversary year. The intent is for the fund to grow and honor additional great teachers upon their retirement. Gordon, Liz, and Rich will now join that group. You can make a gift in their honor here by selecting “Great Teachers Fund” and noting the name of the honoree.