by Katy Knapp
Daily Lobo
Even though professor Ted Sturm retired last year, he still planned on teaching two classes this semester.
He cancelled them in December because he was too ill to teach.
Fred Gillette Sturm, known as Ted, died in his sleep Jan. 21. He was 80.
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Sturm worked at UNM for 30 years. During that time, he was a professor of philosophy, religious studies, Asian studies, peace studies and Latin American studies, among others. He helped start the Asian studies program, the peace studies program and religious studies.
Sturm was fluent in several languages, including Portuguese, German, Chinese, French, classical Greek and Hebrew.
He also wrote and published more than 60 books and essays.
Sturm was a popular professor on campus, said John Taber, chairman of the philosophy department.
"He was greatly beloved by many, many students," he said.
Frank Williams, who graduated from UNM in 1996, said Sturm was one of his favorite instructors.
"He was a very gentle person but also extremely knowledgeable," he said. "He was always willing to give time to understand an area."
Andy Burgess, a long-time colleague of Sturm, said he was well liked because he was encouraging and patient.
"Students had different strengths, and he would find those strengths and work with them," Burgess said.
Sturm received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania in 1946. He then received three graduate degrees, including a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University in 1961.
Before coming to UNM in 1975, Sturm taught in Ohio at Western College, which no longer exists. He was a professor there for 20 years.
Dan Wolne, a lecturer in the religious studies program, began his UNM career as a graduate student in the early '90s.
Wolne was working on his Master's thesis when he met Sturm.
He was doing his research on different Eastern religions and philosophy, he said. Sturm was knowledgeable in Far East philosophy, so he became an asset, he said.
"He was also just somebody with an intellectually open mind with a huge fund of experience from researching all sorts of different areas," Wolne said.
Sturm's office is legendary in the philosophy department, Burgess said.
Books, academic journals and articles would be scattered and piled all over the floor.
Wolne said Sturm's office was a reflection of his inherent thirst for knowledge.
"The layout of his office and its chaotic nature sometimes, for me, it seemed to be a product of his almost inexhaustible intellectual curiosity," he said.
Sturm was also a well-liked colleague.
Taber and Burgess said the department feels empty without him around.
"He was very much a gentleman and dignified," Taber said. "He brought to departmental discussions many years of experience and thoughtful reflection on teaching and university life."
Wolne said he appreciated Sturm's inviting nature.
"I very much appreciated the fact that I could visit Ted in his office hours and talk to him about any academic issue I had," he said. "I didn't have to be in his class."
Wolne said Sturm did not place normal conventions on what it meant to be an intellectual.
Sturm believed anyone, in any field of study, could be an intellectual.
"For him, being intellectually curious was the most important quality to have, and that you should follow that curiosity and let it lead you to areas of study you were passionate about," Wolne said.
A memorial for Sturm will be held March 19 at the Memorial First Congregational Church at Girard and Lomas Boulevards.
