Burt Carlson ’59

The College has been offering a program titled “Callings”.  A more practical title is “What do I do with that?”

Burt came back to campus to talk about his Philosophy major.  Now, Burt didn’t have a Grunge-type educational experience here.  He belonged to two fraternities – Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude – that I didn’t even know existed.  Grad school?  Yale.

If you didn’t know Burt majored in Philosophy, listening to his talk you might have guessed Economics or Political Science.  Didn’t take either one.  But his Philosophy degree, coupled with that good, old liberal arts background, gave him the credentials he needed for a multifaceted, difference-making career.

He’s now sort of retired.  Not working but up every morning at 5:30 AM…writing poetry.  Goal?  Get published.

Burt credits his success back to his Wabash experience – loves learning, loves exploring new things, doesn’t like to be bored, likes new challenges.

I’m at the twilight of a mediocre career…but Burt inspired me…and he did the same for a lot of our current Philosophy majors.