Alum recalls Dick Levin days

To the Editors:

I am an alumnus from the Class of 1964, and my brother Bill is from the Class of 1969. Both of us are physicians, and both of us were biology majors. Even though Bill is five years younger than I, we look alike. So, here is the story.
Ten years ago I moved back to Oberlin from elsewhere, and as I was getting reacquainted with the town I happened one day to have lunch in the Foxgrape. Professor Dick Levin was lunching with some friends. I had met him in 1969 at my brother’s graduation, and since I recognized him, I went over to say hello. He took a look at me and said, “You’re my brother Paul!” He remembered my brother Bill’s references to me when Bill was in his first class at Oberlin in 1965. We have since become fast friends.
The Biology Department at Oberlin has, in a quiet sort of way, offered a series of spectacularly good teachers over the forty plus years I have been associated with it. Names from the past include people like George Scott, Warren Walker, Mike Filosa and Anna Ruth Brummett.
Dick Levin belongs high on the list of great Oberlin teachers — near the very top, in my opinion, and when he slipped away into retirement at the end of last semester, Oberlin lost a giant.
Dick will be back from time to time over the next few years, and I urge those of you who don’t know him to meet him if the opportunity presents. You will not often have a chance to meet a man of such uncommon character.
In the meantime, the Biology Department is quietly moving on, with new faculty who in their time may be just as great as my friend Dick Levin.
There are lots of fancy things that go on on campus these days, but solid science is a big part of what makes Oberlin great. The Biology Department continues to be a cornerstone of solid science, in spite of the retirement of my friend.

—Paul S. Treuhaft, MD, MA
At-Large Member of the Executive Board
Alumni Association