Shop for Yale's top profs

KATHERINE NEWBEGIN/RIVERHEAD BOOKS Professor Harold Bloom, famous scholar and impossible grader.

When The New York Times ran its recent "The Best of the Last 1,000 Years" issue, two Yale professors got the chance to put in their two cents. Author and computer science professor David Gelernter, DC '76, wrote about the piano, while renowned lecturer and Art
History Professor Emeritus Vincent Scully, JE '40, GRD '49 wrote about various international town squares. This was no isolated event: prominent Yale professors are everywhere.

Mathematics Professor Benoit Man-delbrot, is the "father of fractals," those beautiful geometric patterns that introduce each section of Jurassic Park. The prominent math department also has several Field Medal winners.

Also in Group IV, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Professor professor Sidney Altman won the 1989 Nobel Prize for discovering that RNA can function as an enzyme.

The English department also has its share of big names, the biggest among them being Harold Bloom, GRD '56. Bloom's recent book on Shakespeare follows in the wake of his work, The Western Canon. Bloom is a premier literary scholar--and a tough grader.

History was the most popular major among members of the Class of 1999, and not without reason. The department offers Jonathan Spence, SY '61, GRD '65, an authority on modern Chinese history and author of the bestseller The Search for Modern China. Paul Kennedy is the author of a popular book on trends in history, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Gaddis Smith, PC '54, GRD '61, another big name, is a specialist on the Cold War who acted as a chief consultant in CNN's series on the topic.

In the political science department, you can find visiting lecturer Charles Hill, a foreign policy consultant in Washington. H. Bradford Wester-field, TD '47, an advisor for both Presidents Romald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, and William Odom, a former National Security Administration head, are both prominent commentators on international happenings.

Group III boasts some other heavyweights. Professor of Psychology and Education Robert Sternberg, BK '72, wrote the popular book Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins and Development. William Nordhaus, CC '63, was an economic advisor to President Carter and has written a popular text on macroeconomics.

Language fans should look for Spanish Professor Roberto Gonzalez-Echevarria, who authored The Pride of Havana: The History of Cuban Baseball. He recently appeared on television during the exhibition game in Baltimore between the Orioles and the Cuban national team.

Keep in mind, however, that the biggest names are not always the best teachers. Be sure to shop around and avoid being star-struck.

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