Quincy Senior Tutor To Leave This June

Quincy House Senior Tutor Maria J. Trumpler is trading in academic and disciplinary advising in favor of a less traditional occupation—running a cheese farm in Vermont.

Trumpler, who has served as Allston Burr Senior Tutor in Quincy House since 2001, will be leaving her position in June. Quincy House Master Robert P. Kirshner ’70 wrote in an e-mail to the House that she is leaving “to pursue her scientific and cultural interests in farming bacteria and mold as a cheese-maker in Vermont.”

Current Assistant Senior Tutor Judith F. Chapman—who served as Acting Senior Tutor during the fall of 2004 while Trumpler was on leave—will be taking over the position upon Trumpler’s departure.

“Maria has brought so much to the House. I have big shoes to fill,” Chapman said.

Trumpler said her interest in cheese started two to three years ago when she ordered a platter of cheese in a local restaurant in Western Massachusetts. Fascinated by the taste of the cheese, she became interested in value-added farming, which includes making cheese from milk produced on a dairy farm. She currently owns a cheese farm in Vermont with her life partner.

“I came to think it’s a very nice and important thing to make high quality cheese,” Trumpler said.

Trumpler, who is also a lecturer in the History of Science department, experimented with her interest in Artisanal cheese-making during her leave of absence last semester, Kirshner said.

When she returned to her Senior Tutorship in the spring, she had to decide between manufacturing quality cheese or quality students. She chose cheese.

“Maria has been an effective Senior Tutor for Quincy House, an advocate for Quincy students, and we wish her every good fortune in her new endeavors,” Kirshner wrote in the e-mail.

According to Kirshner, Senior Tutors stay on the job for an average three to four years as an interim stage in their careers. Being a Senior Tutor is “not a forever job,” he said.

House administrators and students expect the transition to be a smooth one.

“Judith knows all of you and she demonstrated this Fall that she can handle the many challenges of this demanding job,” Kirshner wrote in his e-mail to the house.

According to Kirshner, Chapman—a lecturer in the anthropology department—has been around the house longer than most of the other administrators.

“I’ve had an opportunity to work with [Trumpler and Chapman], and I’ve had a very successful relationship with both. Both are very compassionate about house matters and what’s best for students,” said Christina L. Adams ’06, co-chair of the Quincy House Committee.

—Staff writer Victoria Kim can be reached at vkim@fas.harvard.edu.