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Ed Wall, Amherst’s dean of admission from 1971 to 1982, died suddenly Nov. 5 at his home on the Governor Dummer Academy campus in Byfield, Mass. He was 68.
Wall was a literal and figurative giant in the world of admission, both at Amherst and beyond. Known at Amherst for his personal contacts with tens of thousands of applicants, he also was respected nationally for his ability to identify and mentor promising educators, as well as his broad service to the admission profession.
“Those who knew Ed will remember him as an outspoken advocate for coeducation and diversity at Amherst,” said Katie Fretwell ’81, director of admission and senior associate dean. “During his tenure, he orchestrated dramatic changes in the composition of the student body. At the same time, amidst these changes, Ed had the uncanny ability to make each student feel that he or she had been handpicked to play an important role in the life of the college.”
A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University, Wall started his career at Exeter as an admission officer before moving to Cornell University’s admission office. After working for two years at Lawrence University, Wall came to Amherst, serving as associate dean for three years before being named dean of admission. In 1984, he started an independent college consulting firm, Gibbs and Wall, and soon became director of college counseling at Cushing Academy. At the time of his death, he was a college counselor at Governor Dummer, where his wife, Janet Adams-Wall, is director of college counseling.
A member of several admission committees, he spoke frequently at national and regional conferences, and authored a number of articles about admission.
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Ed Wall, prescient gentleman
I was saddened to read that Ed Wall, former dean of admissions, had passed away. In October 1969, I visited Amherst College with my father, had a tour of the campus and then an interview with Assistant Dean Wall. During the interview he said, “We have a place for you here.” At that moment I didn’t understand that he was offering me early admission to my first-choice school. I had applied through the regular admission process and assumed that I would interview at several colleges and wait for April to hear the good and bad news.
My father understood what Dean Wall said and explained it to me as an aside. I immediately accepted, entered Amherst in September of 1970 and graduated with the 1974 class. At regular intervals I visited with Dean Wall, discussed my class selection, future plans and experiences at Amherst. He was a mentor and a gentleman.
Joel Nizin
Fair Lawn, N.J.
Ed Wall, squash partner and friend
Ed Wall was the first person I met at Amherst. I immediately liked Ed and actually enjoyed my admission interview as a result. Thereafter, Ed and I regularly played squash together. Not only was it always a great workout, but we always had fun. Those games are some of my best memories of Amherst. My sincere condolences to his family and friends for this most untimely loss.
Christine Moore ’81
New York, N.Y.
Ed Wall, visionary
“Take her; she’s hungry.”
Those were the words Ed Wall wrote on my interview card when I first met him in the spring of 1979. I was in my late 20s, was cleaning houses for a living, had completed only two years towards an undergraduate degree at another college 10 years earlier. I had no money. I had less confidence; all I knew was that I wanted to learn. Ed spent an hour with me that spring day, and whatever he saw in me—what he called my hunger—was what would change my path considerably. I saw Ed again years later at a poetry reading somewhere, and there he was with all that positive energy, thrilled that I had gone on to make teaching my profession, one that I have held at the Hotchkiss School now for almost 21 years. I am grateful to my many fine professors at Amherst for helping me learn, but Ed Wall will always be in my thoughts for having taken such a huge chance on the basis of appetite alone.
Sarah Tames ’81
Lakeville, Conn.
Ed Wall, big in every way
Big-handed and big-hearted, actually just plain big, Ed Wall kept the college admissions process the most human and humane of experiences. He knew there were numbers involved, but he always cared more for people. Whether he said “yes” or “no”—and he said both to me on different occasions—he did so with the greatest warmth and broadest smile. He was a lovely man, and all of us who work in this business might seek to have such a heart. I, among many, will miss him enormously.
Chris Teare ’80
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Ed Wall, life-changer
I was very sorry to hear about Ed Wall’s death. Without exaggerating, I can say that he changed my life. You see, I had been admitted to Amherst and to Yale. Though I wanted to attend Amherst, I accepted at Yale due to my parents’ concerns and pressure. Yale’s acceptance had not included a financial aid package, but I was not concerned, because every other college, including Amherst, had extended me substantial aid, and Yale assured me that a financial aid offer was on the way. The weeks passed and I kept calling, but no financial aid package arrived. Finally, perhaps two weeks before high school was to end, Yale advised that it would offer me no aid whatsoever, and since I had turned down all my other colleges, it suggested that I apply to the University of Texas, which had rolling admissions and possibly could accommodate a late admission request. Despite speaking with several individuals at Yale, the answer, with no explanation whatsoever, remained the same: a cold, uncaring and institutional “You’re out of luck.”
In a fit of desperation, I called Amherst and asked to speak with the dean of admissions. I shared my sad story with Dean Wall, and before I had even finished, he exclaimed that this was wonderful news for Amherst, that Amherst would be delighted to have me, that my Bronx High School of Science and New York City upbringing would help enrich the Amherst experience, and that the full financial package extended with Amherst’s original offer was still in place. To this day, I am astounded that Dean Wall remembered personal details about my application, and I can still feel the relief that flooded over me as I spoke with him. Whereas Yale had made me feel like an inanimate statistic, Dean Wall made me feel like a valued individual. I still remember going to thank him in person when I arrived. Without an introduction, he boomed “hello” to me by name and I shook his big, warm hand.
Dean Wall’s personal touch was characteristic of my time at Amherst. And the impact of his response to my desperate call is immeasurable. At Amherst, I not only obtained a wonderful education and met wonderful people, I also met the wonderful man who is my husband. My gratitude to Ed Wall knows no bounds.
Lisa E. Chang ’82
Atlanta, Ga.
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The Committee is jointly chaired by alumni Sandy Rosenberg '72, Steve Gang '72 and John Gulla '79. Also on the Committee are John Orders '64, Michael Behnke '65, Rob Simpson '69, Wayne Wormley '72, Steve Dibble '73, Katie Fretwell '81, Barb McKinlay Connolly '83 and Kevin McCaffrey '86.
Marshall Schell '72, who is from the Development Office and is helping to build the Fund, explained that the Fund is a part of a 10-month long tribute to the former dean.
The Honoring Ed Wall Campaign concluded during a tribute held in Wall's honor on Saturday. The tribute was attended by friends, family and colleagues of Wall, including President Tony Marx.
According to the Ed Wall Fund description, the Fund was established as a permanent endowment in 2006 by "Green Deans," or Admission Fellows, along with alumni, parents, friends and former colleagues to honor Wall.
Schell said the Fund aims to provide a full scholarship to at least one student every year. The fund is targeted towards students whose parents are blue-collar workers, who are the first in their family to attend college, and those students whose test scores show remarkable academic aptitude given the academic opportunities available to them.
It is more generally targeted towards students with demonstrated need. It will also help to finance campaigns to recruit such students.
According to the an obituary for Ed Wall published in the Winter 2004 edition of Amherst Magazine, he graduated from Philips Exeter Academy before matriculating at Yale University. He had extensive experience working with college and high school admissions before joining Amherst's staff. He began his career working as an admissions officer for Exeter Academy, and later moved to the admissions office at Cornell University. He came to the College after a two-year stint working at Lawrence University.
Director of Admission Katie Fretwell '81 said, "[Wall] played a central role in the College's transition from an all male institution to a coed one." Wall pushed for increased diversity in the student population on all fronts. Besides helping to expand the female student population, he also helped to bring in students of color, especially African-Americans, low-income and blue-collar students who would not normally consider Amherst College as a viable college choice.
His work outside of the College was also commendable, said Fretwell. She explained, "He set an important example for Amherst's peer institutions through his initiatives." He founded A Better Chance house, which helps provide minority high school students who are academically talented with the opportunity to go to college.
Wall is also well known in college admissions circles for having originated the term "Green Dean," said Fretwell, who was a Green Dean herself. She explained that most of the members of the Committee had been once Green Deans.
Wall had a knack of using his jovial personality to relate to students. Fretwell said, "He found humor and interest in almost anything and had an uncanny ability to make students feel that their passions were, indeed, the most important ones of all."
Wall continues to be fondly remembered. He was an important person to those who worked with him, and as Schell said, he was to many both "a mentor and a friend."
The Fund commemorates his important contributions to college admission. And, as Fretwell quipped, Wall's "imposing 6' 4" frame made him a literal and figurative giant in the world of college admission during his time at Amherst."
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Profiles in Philanthropy: Allen J. Hart '82
Having grown up in Williamstown, Mass., Allen Hart ’82 has always felt at home in a small, vibrant intellectual community. “Ed Wall, former Amherst dean of admission, saw in me,” Allen says, “a hardworking teenager concerned with improving not only his own station in life but conditions for others as well.” At Amherst, Allen majored in psychology, played football and ran track. He also held work-study jobs with campus police, the Little Red Schoolhouse and the Mead Art Museum.
After receiving a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard, Allen joined the University of Iowa faculty in 1991. At Iowa, he was named “professor of the year” and spoke at Commencement in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which holds more than twice as many people as live in his hometown. He serendipitously learned of a new faculty position in Amherst’s psychology department. “Even the most jaded of my university colleagues,” Allen says, “acknowledged that the possibility of teaching at Amherst was a ‘plum’ too good to pass up.”
Since returning to campus in 1996 he has been granted tenure, served as department chair and achieved the rank of full professor. He has served as dean of new students since 2003. Now that they are local, Allen and his wife, Meg ’82, who met as first-year students in Morrow Dormitory, attend Reunion Weekend every year, usually with their children, Ben, 18, and Maya, 13. Allen and Meg are deeply involved with A Better Chance (ABC), which recruits high-achieving students of color from underserved school districts to live in Amherst and attend the public high school. Ed Wall and the Amherst Class of 1969 were among the founders of the Amherst ABC program.
Thoughts on giving to Amherst: “From the dean’s office I can appreciate that we need to do even more to make an Amherst education accessible to the most promising students, regardless of their ability to pay. We need to renew and redouble our already significant efforts to find and support students and faculty to enrich the educational experience for all.
To learn more about how you might support Amherst, contact: Timothy A. Neale ’70, Director of Gift Planning, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002-5000; (413) 542-8256; taneale@amherst.edu; www.amherst.edu/alumni/giving
Photo: Frank Ward
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