Heather Guerriero Dans ’89 with Theology Professor James Weiss

James Weiss

HEATHER GUERRIERO DANS: I took Professor Weiss’s philosophy and theology course during my freshman year. I thought I had no interest in these subjects—I knew I wanted to be a business major—and I took the course only to fulfill my requirements. As it turned out, I got so involved that I wound up minoring in theology. When I first met Professor Weiss, I thought he was absolutely frightening. We were all scared of him. He was so tough, so serious, so superior intellectually. He had us reading really difficult material—Nietzsche, Descarte—and he brought it all to life. I thought I was a decent writer when I got to college, but I was not used to thinking deeply. He sparked great debates in class. How many 18-year olds sit around and discuss philosophy three times a week? The class really balanced out my education. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing in college, expanding my mind. A friend of mine and I were so excited by his teaching that we wrote down practically everything he said. At the end of the year we gave him our notebooks and also a compilation of his most memorable quotes. I just found out that he had this framed, and it still hangs in his office. He made an indelible mark on me, and we have continued to keep in touch over the years.

Heather Guerriero Dans is national account manager for Crest Uniform in Norwell, Massachusetts.