RESOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE—ACCEPTANCE OF THE 2002> HENRY BALDWIN WARD MEDAL

Thank you Gene, and thank you friends and colleagues for thinking my contributions worthy of this recognition. It is my belief, as I hope to prove in this address, that I do not as an individual deserve the Henry Baldwin Ward medal. That said, I will accept it—graciously, if I can—on behalf of those who do deserve this medal: my mentors, my fellow cohort in this Society, my unwavering colleagues, and my students. I chose the title Resolution and Independence neither because I necessarily possess those traits nor because they are traits that necessarily serve us well. I am certain that I would not be standing here without resolve. I am equally certain, though, of the web of dependencies—on others, on circumstance, and on luck—that have led me to this time and place. Rather, I have borrowed this title from a poem by William Wordsworth...