Have you ever noticed the names etched into the south portal of Cowles Library? Did you ever wonder how these scholars were chosen for representation? Did you ever think there might be other scholars worthy of recognition? We have answers…and questions for you.

The names — Galileo and Newton, Plato and Kant, Bacon and Pasteur, Beethoven and Wagner, Euripides and Shakespeare, Michelangelo and Rembrandt — were chosen to represent “the six branches of knowledge—Philosophy, Science, Music, Art, Literature, and Astronomy,” according to a 1939 document by (we think) Mary Bell Nethercut, director of Cowles Library. “The first of each group was one of the older and recognized representations and the other, one typical of a trend of the newer age.”

As we look at the list now, though, with 21st Century perspective, what leaps to mind is that they’re all white men. We believe that there have been other scholars worthy of recognition in the Cowles portal: scholars of color, women scholars, scholars with disabilities. We invite your help in identifying them. Submit a nomination by March 15.

For questions, please reach out to a member of Cowles Library’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee: Marcia Keyser and Cameron Tuai, co-chairs; Hope Bibens, Dan Chibnall, Laura Krossner, Kathy Lincoln, and Jill Gremmels, members.

Jill Gremmels, Dean, Cowles Library