Griswold was the first woman to chair an academic department at the college.
Not long after arriving at Wofford College in 1980 to chair the Department of Foreign Languages, now the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, “Dr. Griswold” — Dr. Susan Cass Griswold — received an invitation from the president of the Faculty Wives Club.
“The well-meaning note said to make sure to tell my wife to attend the next meeting,” says Griswold. “I was the first woman to lead an academic department, and some colleagues — and their spouses — didn’t know what to think.”
Griswold died on Nov. 3 at her Spartanburg home after a career of paving the way for women in leadership and helping the college modernize the teaching of foreign languages and expand opportunities for students to study abroad.
“I never imagined, when I enrolled in Dr. Susan Griswold’s Spanish 201 course during my sophomore year at Wofford, that she would end up becoming a lifelong mentor and friend,” says Dr. Camille Bethea ’91, professor of Spanish. “Susan was a force of nature! She was a wonderful professor and an even more amazing person. She was fierce and adventurous; she could be tough as nails but also incredibly funny, caring and kind.”
Griswold earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and her doctoral degree from Vanderbilt University. Her first teaching assignment was at Middlebury College in Vermont. She spent two years in Spain as a Fulbright and was teaching Spanish at Indiana University Bloomington when Dr. B.G. Stephens ’57, who was dean at the time, recruited her to Wofford to lead the department.
“When I got there, there was maybe one student who was studying abroad in Europe,” said Griswold in a Wofford Today feature on trailblazing Wofford women. “I knew the best way to understand the world is to live with it. Our students were at a disadvantage until we began to develop relationships with study abroad partners and make that an important part of the educational experience.”
Traveling with students was one of her greatest pleasures. She took several trips to Mexico as well as trips to Spain, Honduras, Venezuela and Argentina.
“She had high expectations for her students and colleagues, and it was her expertise and sheer determination to establish an exceptional language program at Wofford that helped to make MLLC the strong and successful department that it is today,” says Bethea. “I was fortunate to be able to travel with Susan on a couple of occasions. I learned so much from her. So much. What a life! What a legacy!”
After retirement, Griswold continued to travel the world with her husband, John Morton, who died earlier this year. Her family has asked that memorials be designated to the Wofford College International Studies program at Wofford.edu/give.