Fifty years ago, this term's Montgomery fellow and renowned psychologist Dr. Endel Tulving was eagerly awaiting a response from the Dartmouth College admissions office while living in war-torn Germany.
But at the same time, Tulving -- an Estonian refugee -- was also busy making plans to travel to Italy and eventually on to North America.
As fate would have it, his acceptance letter to Dartmouth arrived just one hour before Tulving left for Italy -- a fact he didn't learn until years later.
Instead of coming to study at the College on the Hill, Tulving began a remarkable career in the field of psychology at the University of Toronto.
A winner of the prestigious 1983 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award and the chair of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, Tulving now has the opportunity to live what might have been.
This term, he will spend much of his time giving lectures and conducting meetings with students.
Since retiring from a teaching and research post at the University of Toronto in 1992, Tulving has devoted himself to the emerging field of cognitive neuroscience -- a field of psychology which explores the complex relation between the emotional mind and the physiological brain.
Tulving is particularly concerned with the biological aspect of human memory. In his research, he employs Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners to monitor various memory processes, including the encoding and the retrieval of memory.
As this term's Montgomery fellow, Tulving sees his primary goal as interacting with and educating students and the College community.
As for his new -- albeit temporary -- home, Tulving has nothing but praise.
"The spirit [here] is great and it makes this place unique," he said. "The College's small size definitely helps as well."
Tulving is especially impressed with the sense of solidarity and community that he finds very prevalent the College.
And for the current students who attend Dartmouth, Tulving offers advice perhaps not expected from an award-winning scientist.
"Resist the temptation to grow," Tulving advised, stressing the importance of savoring one's years here in Hanover.
Tulving's arrival coincides with the dedication of the new Moore psychology building, a structure financed by Lansing Moore, an individual who attended Dartmouth for only three months.
In Tulving's eyes, that sort of philanthropy is a measure of the adoration Dartmouth students have for their school.
After reaching Canada from Germany, Tulving enrolled at the University of Toronto, where he majored in psychology, a subject whose mysterious qualities had always appealed to him.
Tulving went on to receive his Ph.D. from Harvard and then moved back to Toronto, where he achieved the title of Chairman of the Department of Psychology.
In addition to that title, the scientist has been bestowed numerous honorary awards from various institutions. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society of London, Tulving has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship and an honorary Masters degree from Yale University.
Tulving will give a speech on Friday, October 1 in Filene Auditorium concerning the nature of human memory.
