James Walsh ’42

Like many young men who graduated in the 1940’s, Walsh was drafted to serve in the military during World War II. His army infantry unit fought up the boot of Italy, one of the most difficult campaigns of the war. He was decorated with 11 Purple Heart for his efforts.

After World War II, Walsh attended Reed College, where he received a degree in philosophy in 1949. He became a Rhodes Scholar that same year. He later attended Oxford University in England, where he earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in medieval history in 1956. After Oxford, he was honored with a Ford Foundation Fellowship.

Walsh returned to the United States and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University in 1960. He stayed at Columbia and served as professor of philosophy from 1966-1990. His duties included chair of the graduate program from 1966-1966, chair of the philosophy department from 1967-1988 and Professor Emeritus, 1990-present.

While at Columbia, Walsh was also a visiting instructor at University of California Berkeley and a consultant to TV’s “GE College Bowl” from 1965-1970. His publications include two books, Aristotle’s Conception of Moral Weakness in 1963 and Philosophy in the Middle Ages in 1967. He also served as editor for the Journal of Philosophy from 1965-1990.

In a letter dated March 1999 regarding the Wall of Recognition, Walsh states, “The odds are that I will never see Ballard again, and I have a sentimental yearning to have some presence there. Also, I have been lucky in gaining recognition, and I should like that example to be there for kids who might think of education as a career”.