Eric Wellman Character Analysis in Still Alice

Head of the Psychology Department at Harvard University, where Alice works. Eric and Alice are friendly with each another because they have worked together for many years. At the start of the spring semester at Harvard, Eric calls Alice into his office to talk about her student evaluations, which show that the quality of her teaching the previous fall was the worst it had ever been. Eric asks Alice if she’s struggling with drugs or having marital issues with John, and is very surprised when she tells him she has Alzheimer’s. Because Alice wants to make it through the next school year so she can take a sabbatical with John the year after, Eric encourages her to just step down from teaching and speaking engagements, although she is welcome to attend faculty meetings, continue advising Dan Maloney, and work in her office.

Eric Wellman Character Timeline in Still Alice

The timeline below shows where the character Eric Wellman appears in Still Alice. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Illness, Marriage, and Family Theme Icon

...looking forward to the first snow of the season as she and John walk to Eric Wellman’s annual holiday party for Harvard’s psychology department. Nothing very “extraordinary” happens at these parties,... (full context)

Alzheimer’s, Quality of Life, and Happiness Theme Icon

Alice finds John having a conversation with Eric, Dan, and a woman in a red dress. When the conversation between John and the... (full context)

...and Alice heads back to her office for the first time. When she gets there, Eric asks her to come to his office to talk. In his office, Eric tells her... (full context)

Eric gives Alice the evaluations to look over: they are not the usual high ratings she... (full context)

Eric expresses his surprise over the results of the evaluations and then shows Alice the written... (full context)

Alice tells Eric that she “[doesn’t] want to be a bad teacher,” but had hoped to make it... (full context)

At the first lunch seminar of the semester, Leslie (Eric’s graduate student) is scheduled to share her research idea. As people filter in, Alice knows... (full context)