Judy Arkes, academic editor at the George Washington University for nearly 40 years and the behind-the-scenes composer of the university bulletin, died at GW Hospital on Thursday. She was 73.
“She played a crucial role in making sure that our academic publications accurately reflected the standards of the institution and its faculty,” Provost Steven Lerman wrote in a note to university leaders on Friday. “GW is a better institution because of her and the efforts she made.”
Colleagues say Ms. Arkes was GW’s “academic historian”—a human encyclopedia of sorts who held a timeline of facts about degree programs, policies and faculty that she accumulated during her 38 years at the university.
“Her knowledge of the institution and its academic history was formidable,” said her supervisor Cheryl Beil, associate provost for academic planning and assessment. “Nobody else has that.”
Kristin Williams, associate provost for graduate enrollment management, said Ms. Arkes “was our institutional memory, and we never had a chance to download her mind.”
The bulletin serves as the academic contract for undergraduate and graduate students who need information about the university's academic regulations and policies, requirements for academic programs and course descriptions.
With her sharp eye for detail and precision, Ms. Arkes reviewed all new course and academic program proposals, proofread every entry in the bulletin and designed the final catalog each year. Ms. Arkes also edited programs for university events, such as Commencement and the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony.
“She was a one-person shop, and she did it all,” Dr. Beil said.
Ms. Arkes grew up in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1962. She began a teaching degree program at the University of Chicago, which she eventually completed at GW. Before joining the GW staff in 1976, she worked for an educational publisher and taught first grade.
At GW, Ms. Arkes gained a reputation for her high standards and uncompromising dedication to the accuracy of the bulletin.
“Judy’s word was law,” Dr. Beil said.
Ms. Arkes understood the importance of getting the bulletin absolutely correct, not only because it serves a reflection of the university, but also because it represents a contract between new students and the university, said Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Dianne Martin, who worked directly with Ms. Arkes for more than 10 years.
“She spent untold hours proofreading every page,” Dr. Martin said, recalling her “beautifully handwritten notes” in the margins of printed pages. “Hers was a very targeted role, but it was a very important one.”
In 2013, GW stopped its print version of the bulletin and switched to an online-only format. Ms. Arkes adapted to new technologies, but she ensured that the new format did not sacrifice the “fidelity of the final product,” Dr. Martin said.
Ms. Arkes contributed to the effort to implement an electronic workflow management tool that both simplified the process for approving new courses and programs and transformed the bulletin into an electronic format.
For those who knew Ms. Arkes best, she will be remembered for her dry sense of humor, her integrity and her thoughtfulness.
“Her sharp eye, keen mind and kind heart will be greatly missed by all of us who worked with her,” Dr. Martin said.
Ms. Arkes is survived by her husband, Hadley Arkes, her two sons and two grandchildren. The university is planning a memorial for Ms. Arkes in upcoming weeks.