Blegen Distinguished Visiting Professor of Classics W.Bedell Stanford spoke about “The Emotional Power of Greek Tragedy” in Taylor Hall. The pro-chancellor of Trinity College Dublin, Stanford, who argued in Enemies of Poetry (1980) that "creative literature is being used more and more as material for history or archaeology or psychology," was Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College Dublin for 40 years and a member of the Oireachtas—the Irish parliament— from 1948 until 1969. His Greek Tragedy and the Emotions: An Introductory Study, appeared in 1983.

The Blegen visiting professorship was established in 1975 in memory of Elizabeth Pierce Blegen ’10 and her husband, classicist and archeologist Carl W. Blegen.