Sanford Zale holds the B.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University, the licence in history from the Université de Nice, and the M.A. and Ph.D., both in history, from the Ohio State University, where he studied ancient, medieval, and early modern European history and where he wrote a dissertation dealing with historical writing in late-medieval France.

Prior to coming to Champlain in 2007, he taught for many years at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. At Champlain, he teaches interdisciplinary courses in the Core Division and serves as its assistant dean for curriculum.

His favorite authors, among the ancients, are Cicero, Epictetus, Plutarch, Seneca, and Tacitus. Among the moderns, they are Diderot, Gibbon, Hume, Montaigne, and Voltaire. He plays golf often and poorly, and he is a lover of cats.

An Object of Affection

Animals have emotions, argued David Hume, and Hume, in this as in most things, was correct. This cat is named Bacon. This cat is affectionate; this cat is prudent; this cat is wise; this is an excellent cat. My cat is always happy to see me, and I am always happy to see my cat.

"To learn, and on suitable occasions to repeat what one has learned, is indeed, as Confucius said, a pleasure."