CALICO and Eleanor
|
Students, faculty. colleagues, friends, and Duke family. That’s who we are. We knew Dr. Borchardt, as a teacher, peer, mentor, a globe-trotting-traveler. Beyond and abroad from his campus, Frank was a tourist of life at ease anywhere, enjoying the adventure, engaging everyone. I am privileged to have been a part of Frank’s professional and personal life. I was his assistant from June 1991-1997 during the “CALICO years”, and we teamed up again in 2001-2002 when I was the German department secretary. I fed his German Sheppard dogs sometimes and provided rides to and from RDU. When I began working with Frank, there was no World Wide Web or laptops. Frank smoked in his office. We watched the collapse of the Soviet Union on SCOLA. The next year we traveled to The Netherlands and drank champagne in Maastricht, in the same reception hall where weeks earlier the treaty of the European Union was signed.
Professor Borchardt used to wear a tie and jacket. He clunked up and down the stairs in clogs. Our offices were in the Languages building, which has a lovely front patio and iron furniture that Frank purchased with discretionary funds for all to enjoy.
Frank and I were making the world a better place. Frank shared his mission and I carried out his orders, willfully and with confidence in his leadership. Throughout our six years together, we maintained a forum for educators, government, and businesses to use computer-assisted instruction for teaching and learning languages. We were supporting people who wanted to share their knowledge and utilize technology. Indeed, the world would be a better place if we learn to communicate instead of kill. To that extent, we published a quarterly journal. coordinated symposia, and staffed exhibition booths. We traveled overseas and all over the US. We hosted visiting scholars and dignitaries. My horizons were expanding! It was a fantastic ride. When it was over, we kept in contact, but no longer called each other morning, noon, and night to talk about outreach efforts and itineraries. Frank let me go off on my own, but I had lost my grandiose purpose for working (and the travel perks too). When I could no longer tolerate any of my post-CALICO jobs, Frank came to my rescue again, took me under his wing again, nestled me into his beloved sanctum--— the German Department — so that we could work together again. In 2002 I got the notion that my occupational calling was to be An Artist. Off I flew. Needless to say, that didn’t last long. We kept in contact while I toiled aimlessly temping at IBM. Frank was relieved when I found my niche at Cisco Systems in 2005, where the corporate mission is to change the way we work, live, play: and learn. That also describes Frank’s impact on my life, and likely yours too. I am a better person for knowing and loving Frank Borchardt. Thanks to Frank, and his relentless scholarly pursuit of technology, the world is a better place. |
A few years later, the jacket and tie gave way to a more casual tee shirt and long sleeved unbuttoned over shirt. Flip flops replaced the clogs. He wore his hair in a pony tail. Frank’s sense of fashion and style was unique: eventually he donned a black leatherjacket and big bling-bling: golf ball sized medallions, watches, and rings custom made from gold Krugerands.