Obituaries | Faculty

Lewis C. Robertson, professor of mathematics, emeritus, passed away on Dec. 22, 2018, at the age of 80. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago and his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before teaching at Wesleyan, he was an assistant professor at the University of Washington. He taught at Wesleyan from 1970 to until his retirement in 1998. A passionate mathematician, Robertson conducted scholarly research on Lie groups, topological groups, and representation theory, and often collaborated with his Wesleyan colleagues on papers. Carol Wood, the Edward Burr Van Vleck Professor of Mathematics, emerita, said, “Lew was a gentle fellow, and unfailingly kind. As a mathematician he was extremely self-effacing. Nonetheless, it was impossible for him to hide his mathematical ability. Lew was a regular in the topology seminar over the decades, and when a topic (often outside his area of expertise) caught his interest, the depth of his comments would yet again remind me that Lew was a gifted mathematician.” Robertson is survived by his wife of 44 years, Janet; their son, Michael; one child from a previous marriage, Laureen; Janet’s daughters from a previous marriage, Julie and Jeanne; and eight grandchildren.

Joseph W. Reed, professor of English and American studies, emeritus, passed away on Feb. 11, 2019, at the age of 86. Reed earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Yale University. He also served in the U.S. Navy. While at Wesleyan, he served as the chair of the English department and of the Sesquicentennial Committee, and was one of the founding architects of both American Studies and Film Studies at Wesleyan. He retired in 2004 after 44 years at Wesleyan. Richard Slotkin, the Olin Professor of English, emeritus said, “Joe Reed was my good friend and colleague for more than 40 years. His intelligence was adventurous, and his scholarly and teaching interests ranged from 18th-century British literature, to Faulkner and the American novel, to movies and television.” Reed is survived by his children, Mack, John, and Kate, and their families, including four grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Kit, author and former resident writer.

John D. Maguire passed away on Oct. 26, 2018, at the age of 86. He attended Washington and Lee University as an undergrad then completed his bachelor of divinity and doctorate in theology and psychiatry from Yale Divinity School. He was a Fulbright fellow in Scotland and later a Fulbright scholar in Germany, where he conducted post-doctoral research. He began his academic career at Wesleyan as a professor in the religion department. He later served as an associate provost. Throughout his career, he held many academic leadership positions such as president of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury. In 1981, he joined Claremont Graduate University and became the longest-serving president, a role he held until his retirement. He was known for his passion for civil rights. President Michael S. Roth ’78, who knew Maguire well, said, “John’s life-long, exuberant dedication to the combination of moral activism and liberal learning . . . is stamped upon the memory of all who knew him.” Maguire is survived by his family including wife Billie and their daughters Catherine ’83, Mary, and Anne.

Michael C. Lovell, the Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics and Social Sciences, emeritus, passed away on Dec. 20, 2018, at the age of 88. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Reid College and his master’s degree from Stanford University. He earned his PhD from Harvard University after serving in the Korean War. He taught at Wesleyan from 1969 until his retirement in 2002. He had a long scholarly career and received numerous fellowships and grants in support of his research. His work as a graduate student is still widely cited today, and in retirement, Lovell continued to publish articles and a book on economics. Richard Grossman, a professor of economics, said: “Mike Lovell was an eminent economist, adept in both theoretical and empirical fields, who would not have been out of place in any of the world’s leading economics departments.” Lovell is survived by his wife, Adrienne; their four children: Leslie, Stacie, George, and Martin and their spouses; and eight grandchildren.

Peter Standaart, private lessons teacher and visiting instrumental teacher, passed away on Sept. 16, at the age of 70. Standaart was educated at Duke University, the North Carolina School for the Arts, and Yale University. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1975 and continued to teach flute until shortly before his death. He performed many times with the Wesleyan Orchestra, the Goodspeed Opera, and the Connecticut Flute Orchestra, among others. In recent years, Standaart was a member of two trios and co-founded Flutes in the Woods, a Middletown performance series for regional flutists. Throughout his career, he premiered many new works, including compositions by his Wesleyan colleagues. He is remembered as a talented and passionate musician by his family and friends. His friend and colleague, Libby Van Cleve said,“It’s a huge personal loss for me, and a collective loss for the Wesleyan community and music world.”

Lewis “Lew” N. Lukens, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, emeritus, passed away on Sept. 8, at the age of 91. Lukens taught at Wesleyan from 1966 to 1999, where he was one of the founding members of the molecular biology and biochemistry department. He received his BA from Harvard University and his PhD. from the University of Pennsylvania. Luken’s research involved the regulation of gene expression by eukaryotic cells. He was the recipient of many research grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At Wesleyan, Lukens served as chair of the biology department, on the committee on graduate instruction, and as program director of the Biomedical Research Support Grant. In retirement, he served on the advisory board of the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty. Dr. Scott Holmes, his colleague, said, “Lew exhibited many qualities I will continue to seek to emulate, as a scientist and a person.” Lukens is survived by his wife, Ellen, and their four children, Katherine Lukens, Marie Lukens Hansen, Ellen Lukens Sisson, and Lewis N. Lukens Jr., and nine grandchildren.

Peter Kilby, professor of economics, emeritus, passed away on Aug. 2, at the age of 83. Kilby arrived at Wesleyan in 1965 after working with USAID in Nigeria for two years. He received his BA from Harvard University, his MA from Johns Hopkins University, and his D.Phil from the University of Oxford. Kilby’s work spanned continents. Throughout his career, Kilby was appointed a Fulbright Fellow, a Ford Foundation Foreign Area Fellow, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He served as an advisor to the ILO World Employment Programme in Geneva, the Ciskei Commission in South Africa, the governments of Malaysia and Tanzania, the World Bank in Kenya and Nigeria, USAID, the U.S. State Department, and the Food and Agricultural Organization, among others. “Peter Kilby was a respected scholar and beloved teacher with a wide range of friends at Wesleyan not only among those of us in the social sciences, but throughout Wesleyan’s three divisions,” said colleague Professor Emeritus Mike Lovell. Kilby is survived by his wife, Marianne Kilby, his three children, Damian, Christopher, and Karen, and his six grandchildren.

Basil John Moore, 84, professor emeritus of economics, passed away March 8, 2018. Moore, who received his BA from the University of Toronto and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University, came to Wesleyan in 1958. He retired in 2003. Moore is renowned as the progenitor of the “horizontalist” analysis of endogenous money (an approach to money creation that states that reserves be provided on demand at rates set by central banks, rather than being managed by central banks). His publications include Horizontalists and Verticalists (1988), and Shaking the Invisible Hand (2006), and his ideas have shaped post-Keynesian economics. Professor of Economics Richard Grossman, said: “Basil Moore was a passionate challenger of economic orthodoxy. I met him during my first day on campus (we were both on our way to a freshman advising meeting) and he immediately suggested that we have lunch—mostly, I think, so he could evangelize someone fresh out of graduate school to his horizontalist view. Although I was never ‘converted,’ Basil’s gentle persuasion made me rethink a lot of what I held true about economics.” Moore is survived by his wife, Sibs; his daughter and his three sons, as well as his three Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs.

David Schorr, professor of art, died on June 16, at the age of 71. Schorr received his BA from Brown University, and his BFA and MFA from Yale University. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1971, and has taught a wide range of courses including printmaking, drawing, graphic design, and calligraphy. He received the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2015. Shorr’s career as an artist and designer was also broad-ranging. He provided illustrations for numerous books (including Parallel Lives, by Professor of English emerita Phyllis Rose, and Distinguished Professor of Literary Translation Norman Shapiro’s translations of La Fontaine’s fables)as well as hundreds of literary portraits for The New Republic, and had an active practice as a painter and printmaker. “David was an incomparable raconteur who loved bringing people together around art and conversation,” said his colleague Jeffrey Schiff, professor of art. “He was a dedicated teacher, who cared deeply about his students and the fullness of the educational enterprise, and did much to shape the studio arts at Wesleyan.” Schorr is survived by his niece, Sarah Schorr ’99; his nephew, Max ’03; and his sister-in-law.

Donald B. Meyer, professor of history emeritus, passed away May 27. He was 94. Meyer served in the U.S. Army from 1943-1946 and received his BA from the University of Chicago in 1947. He earned his master’s and doctorate from Harvard University, where he taught for two years. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1967 from UCLA. Meyer was a social and intellectual historian who published three books and numerous articles over his career. “He was an expert in offering a vigorous challenge to prevailing views, especially about sectors of our society that figured much too little in our history,” says colleague Nat Greene. Meyer also served as one of the founding organizers of Wesleyan’s American Studies program. The Meyer Prize was established in 1991 to recognize deserving history majors for honors theses in American history. Meyer is survived by his wife, Jean Meyer; his sister; his children and their spouses and partners; and his five grandchildren.