A native Chicagoan, Tim Fuller’s impact upon the Colorado College community — and that of political scholarship at large — is virtually unmatched. A curriculum vitae of 40 pages gives testament to a life of research, teaching, and constant engagement on the frontlines of political science.
His early academic days at Kenyon College, where he was introduced to the work of 20th-Century British philosopher Michael Oakeshott, laid a foundation of intellectual exploration that has since become a hallmark of Fuller’s half-century at CC.
Joining the Colorado College political science faculty in 1965, Fuller arrived from Johns Hopkins where he’d received his M.A., and later his Ph.D. in 1971. Early in his teaching career at the college, Fuller quickly established himself as one of the college’s leading intellectual lights. He is described as “the voice of liberal learning for our time” by Paul Carrese, a professor of political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Carrese has known of Fuller since his undergraduate days at Middlebury College, when he was assigned both an Oakeshott reading as well as Fuller’s own scholarship on Oakeshott. Over 18 years since Carrese took a teaching post at the Academy, he and Fuller have become close friends and collaborators across numerous conferences, events, and discussion groups.
In 50 years of service, Fuller has left something more than a mark on Colorado College; he helped redefine it for the modern era. He helped develop Colorado College’s Block Plan, received three National Endowment for the Humanities grants, served as both a dean and acting president in the ’90s and 2000’s, and mentored generations of students. Fuller’s classes are known for their simultaneous rigor and flexibility, and according to Samantha Ford ’12, produced “some of my fondest memories and most in-depth learning at CC.”
Published extensively around the world, Fuller is a globally recognized authority in political science, public policy, and contemporary political thought. While the life and work of Oakeshott are nearest to his heart (he and Oakeshott became friends after Fuller invited him to speak at the college’s centennial celebration) he is also deeply versed in Hobbes, Mill, and constitutional theory. His connections to the college go far beyond his own, as his wife Kalah earned her MAT degree here, and his two daughters both graduated from CC.
Celebrating 50 years at Colorado College, Tim Fuller remains as active a member of this community as he was when he first joined us all those years ago. Innumerable things have changed in that time; revolutions, wars fought, peace brokered, nations fallen and begun anew. Here with us through it all, as a guide and a friend, has been Timothy Fuller.
Long may it continue; he’s just getting started!
Contributions by Kirk Woundy
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4 Responses to Professor Tim Fuller
Congratulations on 50 years of teaching, Professor Fuller! The whole CC community, past and present, owes you so much for your tireless efforts to ensure that liberal learning thrives at Colorado College. Times spent at your reading group are some of my most treasured memories of college. Thank you for all the care and patience you put into educating me and so many other young people.
Rigor and flexibility…I can think of no two words that better exemplify Dr. Fuller’s approach to teaching and scholarship! As a rather immature and naive student, Tim’s courses inspired in me not only a deeper understanding of political environments and governmental structures, but a true love of learning and intellectual exploration. To this day, I take many of the lessons from my early courses with Tim in trying to provide a model of engaging, enriching, and excellence in teaching to my students. Congratulations on all the success you’ve had in a long and distinguished career, Tim! Thanks for all you’ve done to pass on a legacy to others, like me. And all the best moving forward!
Professors Finley, Fuller, and Cronin taught me how to think, speak and persuade–invaluable skills for a lawyer, policymaker and human. Whether working in government or suing the government in civil rights cases, their courses were a foundation for my advocacy on behalf of the disadvantaged. On e must understand the science of politics and systems of government, before knowing how an aggrieved client fits or does not fit in the system. Thanks CC!
I took a class with Prof. Fuller in 1973 or so. I don’t remember what the course title was, but it helped me learn about conservative politics, and it actually helped me to realize how I would be a conservative if conservatism actually embraced the notion of stewardship. It was a very polarized time, and it was easy (as it is now) to rattle around in liberal and progressive echo-chambers with no dialogue with other ways of thinking. Fred Sonderman and Robert Lee were also huge influences, but it was Fuller who challenged me most to confront and question my own beliefs more deeply. Also, I want to thank him for his leadership in creating the Block Plan. The last year under the old system was my first year at CC, which I ended on academic probation. Under the Block Plan I became a pretty competent student of political science.