Rotary Foundation Student's Memories

Wed, Oct 23rd 2024 at 1:00 pm- Fri, Nov 8th 2024 - 2:00 pm

Eric Motley "Remembering Wilson"
Highlighting the life changing opportunities of the Rotary Foundation Scholarship Scheme.

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"Remembering Wilson"

There is no way I can think of St. Andrews-neither the place nor the people-without thinking of Wilson and Barbara Sibbett. When I was selected in 1996 by the Rotary International Foundation to study at the University of St. Andrews for a master's degree, they generously paired me with a local St. Andrews Rotarian. I am a student of philosophy and political theory, and I must confess that I never did particularly well in high school or university in the study of physics. So you can imagine my apprehension when I learned that Wilson Sibbett, a very distinguished professor of physics and head of the department, would be my host Rotarian, along with his beautiful wife, Barbara. I was excited, but anxious at the same time. And before arriving in St. Andrews, I did a little extra research and discovered that not only was Wilson head of the department, but he was also considered one of the world's great laser physicists. He was truly a man of light!

Well, as the saying goes, one should never judge a book by its cover, because what I discovered after our first meeting is that there is no person kinder, nobler, more gracious, or more Christian than Wilson Sibbett. There was no pretentiousness, no ego-just grounded humility. And the most wonderful laugh! What I learned over the many years of our friendship was that when he was not teaching at St. Andrews or working on some great invention to help humanity through the advancement of science, he was retreating to his homeland of Ireland, to the land of his mother, father, and brother.

I once asked him, "Wilson, what do you do when you go back home to Ireland?" He replied, "Farming the land, that's what I do, Eric. Farming! And I find great peace on the land." Always a man of the people, always a man of the land.

Their daughters became my sisters. The Sibbetts became my family. And I found myself unashamedly at their table once a week for dinner. I found myself going to church with them and enjoying the many beautiful friendships formed with so many people in the Rotary Club. Over the course of my life, through all of the high and low places-from my time in government to my broader interactions with people in society-Wilson remains one of the most extraordinary and successful individuals I know, but also one of the humblest. There is a wonderful line in a poem by Rudyard Kipling that reminds me of him: "One that walks with kings, nor lose the common touch." That is Wilson. He never lost the common touch.

I really did not know what to expect when I arrived in Scotland and was greeted by my Rotarian hosts - perhaps I imagined them being Scottish, certainly not Irish! And perhaps they too were curious about a young man from Alabama who decided, out of all places, to come to Scotland!

But one thing is for certain: My life is all the better because of Wilson Sibbett.
And life is like that-filled with Incidents, Accidents, and PROVIDENCE.

Eric Motley, Rotary Scholar, 1996 until 1997; but I did not leave and remain for a PhD, leaving St Andrews in 2000

> Eric L. Motley
> Deputy Director, The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
> T: 202.842.6300

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