A brief history of "the door"

One of the enduring traditions of the Bartlett group was the "door carving" ceremony. Every graduate student in the group carved his or her initials in the door to Paul's office once their Ph.D. thesis was approved and filed with the University. Not surprisingly, this ceremony was accompanied by considerable fanfare and a well-earned celebration. The record is complete: every one of the 63 students who received a Ph.D. degree under Paul's supervision is represented!

It is interesting to see the stylistic evolution of the carvings over the years. The first few, starting at the upper left with Rich Green as Ph.D. #1 in 1978, were somewhat tentative. Indeed, until Paul received tenure, the carvings were hidden behind a file card lest the powers-that-be look askance at the defacing of University property! Then, the carvings became bolder, although they remained remarkably uniform in style. By the late '80's, when the initials moved to the right of the window, more individualism emerged, with each Ph.D. finding a way to personalize his or her initials to reflect artistic interests, national origins, and/or group nicknames.



Of all the "momentos" that Paul has retained from his tenure as an active faculty member at Berkeley, without question the door is the one he cherishes the most.