Category: Faculty

C. Edward “Ed” Buchwald, 88, died peacefully at home on September 1, 2026. He was the McBride Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies, working at Carleton from 1967 through his retirement in 2002. Ed also served as the College Naturalist and Director of the Cowling Arboretum for many years, as well as on the MN Environmental Quality Board and the MN Environmental Education Advisory Board. He is remembered as a “wonderful teacher” and esteemed scholar. Ed was known for his love of model trains, the boy scouts, and the natural world. He will be missed.

Ed is survived by his beloved wife, Cynnie, daughter Julie, sons Charles (Silvana) and Adam (Nancy), grandchildren Kayla, Theo, and Max, great grandchildren Jaxon and Estelle, and dachshunds Jake and Lucy.

To learn more about his life and his gifts to Carleton, we invite you to read his obituary.

James F. Fisher, John W. Nason Professor of Asian Studies and Anthropology, Emeritus, passed away August 6th, 2026. He was 86.

Teaching from 1971 until 2009, Jim was a “great scholar and a delightful renaissance man” and someone who “embodied the ideal of a teacher-scholar.” Colleagues remembered him as “kind, polite, and wonderfully maverick in the breadth of his intellectual and extracurricular activities,” as well as for having an “infectious smile” and how his “international adventures…resulted in fascinating stories that he delighted in swapping with both old and new friends.”

We invite you to read his full obituary below. We are grateful for Jim’s life and the legacy he has left Carleton. He will be deeply missed.

Dale E. Quist passed away on January 17, 2026 at his home in Crosslake, MN. He was 92. Between 1970 and 1979, he served at various times as coaches of Carleton’s football, baseball, and basketball teams, as well as the Assistant Professor of Physical Education for Men. Dale was a star athlete at Northfield High School and the University of Minnesota in the 1950s. In addition to coaching at Carleton, he served as the head football coach at Shattuck and was inducted into the Northfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Dale and Betty built a home on Circle Lake and he had a successful business career in Northfield and Dundas. To learn more about Dale’s life and plans for a memorial service, please explore his obituary.

Edward Leon Sostek, Carleton Professor of English and Theater Arts, passed away November 21, 2025. Teaching from 1969 to 1996, Sostek was known for having directed dozens of plays for the Carleton Players troupe. Students remember him as “a beloved director, teacher, and mentor,” a “vibrant, kind and thoughtful man,” and “one of the true Carleton greats.” He will be deeply missed.

A final Friday Happy Hour celebration of Ed’s life will be held at Severance Great Hall on the Carleton College campus in Northfield, Minnesota on Friday, May 22, 3pm – 7pm. All are welcome.  We invite you to read his obituary here.

Ted Vessey, age 87 of Northfield, passed away peacefully and painlessly on Thursday evening, August 28, 2025. Beginning in 1970, Ted served as a Professor of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science at St. Olaf College until his retirement in 2005. In his retirement he taught part-time at Carleton for six years, a role for which he was very proud.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00PM, on Sunday September 7, 2025, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Northfield. Visitation will begin at 1:00PM and a reception will follow the service. Interment will be in Oaklawn Cemetery. For his obituary and more information about Ted’s life, please follow this link here.

Robert Bonner, Marjorie Crabb Garbisch Professor of History and the Liberal Arts, Emeritus, passed away April 16th, 2025. Raised in Powell, Wyoming, Bonner began teaching at Carleton in 1967, and retired in 2001. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Carleton’s Dean of Students, and from 1997 to 2001, he served as the Director of the American Studies Program.

John Curtis Perry, former professor of history, passed away on March 1st, 2025. He was 94. John served Carleton between 1966-1980, in addition to teaching at Connecticut College, Waseda University in Tokyo, the International University of Japan, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was know as an excellent professor and mentor, inspiring many generations of students.

A scholar of maritime history, John was the author six books, including co-authoring Essays on T’ang Society with Carleton Professor Bardwell Smith. He received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, a Japanese Imperial decoration, for his contributions to American-Japanese relations, and was honored by the establishment of the John Curtis Perry Fellowship at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 2001.

Clark G. Ohnesorge, age 63, passed away at his home in Northfield on Saturday, December 21, 2024. Since 1998, Clark held various roles at Carleton, including Assistant Professor of Psychology (1998-1999), Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology (2005-2007), Admissions Reader (2016), and most recently as a Research Associate in the Psychology Department. A St. Olaf graduate, Clark gained his PhD in Cognitive Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. An accomplished violinist, he will be remembered for his music, together with his service to his community on the Board of the Just Foods Co-op.

James Edgar Finholt, William H. Laird Profess of Chemistry and the Liberal Arts, Emeritus, age 91, passed away on October 29, 2024. James began teaching at Carleton in 1960 and retired in 2001. He received his B.A. in chemistry from St. Olaf College and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

Carl D. Weiner, William H. Laird Professor of History and the Liberal Arts, Emeritus, passed away August 25, 2024 at the age of 90. Born and raised in New York City, Carl spent most of his adult life (somewhat to his own surprise) in Minnesota as a beloved history professor at Carleton College, teaching his first class in 1965. He was a natural raconteur, bringing the French Revolution, the Reformation and the great political, social and intellectual upheavals of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Europe to life for generations of Carleton students.