Eighteen of Yale's senior faculty members -- all known throughout the world as preeminent experts in their fields -- have attained emeritus status in the past year.
All 18 are major figures in the sciences, arts, or humanities, but they did not all travel the same route to prominence. Some spent their full academic careers at Yale, while others arrived after garnering widespread acclaim for their scholarship.
Either way, Yale is a better institution because of them, says President Richard C. Levin.
"We have been greatly enriched by their presence," Levin said. "We are grateful for their years of valuable and devoted service, and all of us -- not just at Yale, but across the nation and the world -- will reap the benefits of their work for years to come."
These scholars include Frank Firk, who invented and first used glass scintilators for neutron detection; Gordon Williams, who uncovered unique aspects of Roman social history and culture; Howard Pearson, who advanced methods to determine the presence of, and treat, sickle cell anemia and other pediatric diseases; Juan Linz, who described the intricate nuances of sociopolitical phenomena; Jerome Eisenstadt, who delineated mechanisms involved in cellular interactions; and Edward Tufte, who revolutionized the presentation of quantitative data.
The newly appointed emeritus professors also have made an indelible impact on their Yale departments. Many leave legacies, including Pierre Demarque for his endeavors to shape the astronomy department into a world-renowned center of excellence in astrophysics; Jules Prown for his efforts to help establish and develop the Yale Center for British Art; and Howard Spiro for his mission to sensitize physicians-in-training to the humanistic aspects of practicing medicine.
The following are brief profiles of the emeritus professors, whose appointments took effect June 30 unless otherwise noted.
A native of Brazil, Emilia Viotti da Costa is a distinguished scholar of Latin American history whose work on Brazilian slavery has been especially lauded. In the 20 years before she came to Yale, da Costa held faculty appointments at her alma mater, the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, as well as several visiting appointments. Early in her career, da Costa received a fellowship from the French government. She joined the Yale faculty as associate professor in 1973 and was named a full professor 10 years later. The author of dozens of articles and books, da Costa writes and speaks in English and her native Portuguese, as well as Spanish, Italian and French. She has been director of Yale's women's studies program and of the Council on Latin American Studies. She is affiliated with several professional societies, including the Latin American Studies Association and the American Historical Association, from which she received a distinguished teaching award in 1992.
Pierre R. Demarque has centered his pioneering research on stellar structure and evolution, star clusters, the evolution of galaxies, and solar and stellar seismology. He came to Yale as professor of astronomy and department chair in 1968, holding the latter post until 1975. During this time, he changed the focus of the department from celestial mechanics to contemporary issues of astrophysics, laying the groundwork for making the department a leading international center in this area. He was named the Munson Professor in 1979. Demarque became the first director of Yale's Center for Solar and Space Research in 1985. Honors include the 1967 Warner Prize of the American Astronomical Society. His many elected and appointed administrative posts include president of the International Astronomical Union's Commission on the Internal Constitution of the Stars from 1991 to 1994. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Demarque served on several University committees including the Yale College Executive Committee, which he chaired from 1998 to 1999.
Jerome M. Eisenstadt, who was named professor emeritus in December 1998, has spent his entire teaching career at Yale. He came to the University in 1962 as assistant professor of microbiology at the School of Medicine. In 1966, he was promoted to associate professor of microbiology and in 1972 he was named associate professor of human genetics and microbiology. He was appointed associate professor of human genetics in 1974, and in 1977 was named professor of human genetics. Throughout this time, Eisenstadt was steadily gaining an international reputation as a leading investigator who undertook groundbreaking research. Specifically cited were his studies of the factors involved in mechanisms of protein synthesis, the interaction of cell organelles and the nucleus, and cytoplasmic inheritance in animal cells. His laboratory was the first to isolate chloramphenicol-resistant animal cells and to show that such resistance was conferred by a stable mutation in their mitochondrial DNA. He has authored numerous articles.
Frank W.K. Firk has made major contributions to the detection of neutrons, including the development of lithium-6-loaded glass scintilators, now used worldwide. The London native came to Yale in 1965 as senior research associate after working in various research positions at Harwell, England's Atomic Energy Research Establishment, and as a member of the Physics Division at Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As his work on double neutron scattering began to attract attention, he was promoted to associate professor of physics in 1968 and to full professor in 1977. He was director of graduate studies from 1970 to 1973 and department chair from 1980 to 1983. He served as associate director, then director, of Yale's Electron Accelerator Laboratory from 1968 to 1984; director of the Summer Sciences program at Yale in 1977; and director of the University's Natural Science Center in 1978. He was master of Trumbull College from 1982 to 1987; in 1983, he received Yale's undergraduate teaching prize.
An architect and a civil engineer, Martin D. Gehner has been professor of architectural engineering at Yale since 1975. He was associate dean of the School of Architecture from 1980 to 1984 and 1986 to 1989, and served as acting dean from 1984 to 1985. His teaching interests include architectural structures and materials, including the actual making of designed projects. He has drawn on his dual-edged expertise to author publications dealing with structural materials, structural systems, materials, solar structures and architectural education. Before coming to Yale, Gehner taught at the University of Michigan and Iowa State University, where he was professor and head of the department of architecture. He has been active in professional continuing education in architecture and engineering along with a project-based practice to design various building structures. Gehner has served on national and community governing boards and led committees, including many at Yale. Professional honors include the University of Michigan Distinguished Service Award, Yale's Judith Capen Award for Outstanding Teaching, the Ella T. Grasso Award, the Melanchthon Fellow, and the 1999 Silver Arts Award for dedicated teaching and service to the School, the University and the community.
Jack S. Greenberg has been engaged in a diverse scope of experimental research in the fields of nuclear, atomic, and elementary particle physics. With innovative measurements carried out at nationally and internationally located laboratories, his work has provided salient tests of evolving theories and initiated experimental evidence suggesting new phenomena. Experimental investigations have particularly focused on areas involving fundamental aspects of collective structure in nuclei, weak interactions, the development of high-energy atomic physics with very high-Z atomic systems for studies of quantum electrodynamics of strong fields, and the possible production of new low-mass lepton states and hyperon states. Greenberg joined the Yale faculty in 1956, served as director of graduate studies, and participated in a number of University committees. He has held visiting professorships at several institutions and has received the British Association Medal, the Rutherford Memorial Fellowship, Travelling Fellowships from Canada, and the Senior US Scientist Award of the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation.
Martin J. Klein is an expert on major physicists of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Albert Einstein, Paul Ehrenfest, Josiah Willard Gibbs and Niels Bohr. He has written on topics ranging from the origins of thermodynamics and quantum theory to 19th-century mechanical explanations. Klein joined the Yale faculty as professor of the history of physics in 1967 after teaching at Case Institute of Technology for 18 years. He chaired the department of the history of science and medicine from 1971 to 1974. He was appointed the Eugene Higgins Professor in 1974 and named to the prestigious William Clyde DeVane Professorship from 1978 to 1980. Klein has served in various editorial capacities, including senior editor of Einstein's collected papers. His professional memberships include the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. An international symposium in Klein's honor was held in 1994 on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
Named emeritus professor in December 1998, Dr. Howard Levitin is well known for his work in kidney disease and fiuid balance and also has been recognized for his administrative and organizational skills. He was appointed assistant professor in 1960, four years after coming to the University as a research fellow. He became associate and full professor in 1966 and 1972, respectively. In 1966, he was tapped to fill the newly created post of associate dean in charge of curriculum at the medical school, a position he held until 1980. He also served as the school's dean of students, clinic chief of the Department of Medicine Practice Plan, and medical director of the Faculty Practice Plan. He has been medical director of the Yale Corporate Medical Program since 1989. Levitin is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, among other organizations, and a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Juan Linz, emeritus professor since December 1998, is an authority on comparative social and political systems in European nations. A native of Spain, Linz studied there and in the United States. His numerous articles, books and book chapters focus on topics such as political parties and voters in Spain, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, social bases of West German politics, and democracies in transition. He also has studied the contemporary politics of Brazil, Chile, and South Korea. He taught at the University of Madrid and Columbia University, among other institutions, before coming to Yale in 1968 as professor of sociology and political science. He was named the Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political and Social Science in 1977 and Sterling Professor in 1989. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and fellow of the British Academy. Other honors include the prestigious Principe de Asturias and Johan Skytte prizes, and four honorary degrees. He currently is conducting a comparative study of democracies.
Dr. Bernard Lytton was appointed assistant professor of urology at Yale in 1962. He instituted the program of kidney transplantation at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) in 1967 and helped establish Hospice in New Haven. His research interests include compensatory renal growth and urologic cancer, and he served on the surgery study section of the National Institutes of Health from 1975 to 1979. He was chief of the section of urology at the School of Medicine, YNHH, and the West Haven V.A. Medical Center, 1967 to 1987. He was president of the New England section of the American Urological Association in 1979. Named full professor in 1971, he was appointed the Guthrie Professor in 1988. He was acting master of Branford College from 1986 to 1987 and master of Jonathan Edwards College from 1987 to 1997. Lytton has authored numerous publications on urology. Among his many honors are the 1966 Francis Gilman Blake Award, given by the medical school's graduating class to the most outstanding teacher of the medical sciences; and the American Urological Association's 1985 Hugh Hampton Young Award.
Noted cancer researcher Dr. John C. Marsh became emeritus professor last November. The 1959 School of Medicine graduate returned to Yale in 1967 as assistant professor of medicine and pharmacology. He became associate professor in 1970 and full professor in 1977. He was attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital from 1968 to 1998. Marsh has held numerous consultancies with, and administrative posts in, professional organizatons, among them the American Cancer Society. He was director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Unit at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1986 to 1998, and acting director of the Cancer Center at the West Haven Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1991 to 1993. He has served in an editorial capacity for several journals. In 1987, the American Cancer Society Awarded Marsh its Bronze Medal. In 1998, a symposium was held in Marsh's honor and a scholarship for entering medical students was established in his name. The physician now resides in Williamsburg, Virginia, and is principal investigator of a clinical trial in colorectal cancer through the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.
William J. McGuire has worked in social and cognitive psychology, mainly on attitudes and personal identity. After receiving a Yale Ph.D., he served on the faculty at Yale from 1955 to 1958 and then at the University of Illinois, Columbia University, and the University of California, San Diego. He returned to Yale in 1970 as professor of psychology, serving as department chair from 1971 to 1973. McGuire edited the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology from 1967 to 1970 and served on numerous peer review panels for funding research. Among his many awards are the American Psychological Association's 1988 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology's 1992 Distinguished Scientist Award, the International Society of Political Psychology's 1999 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, an honorary doctorate from Budapest's Eötvös University and the Guggenheim, Fulbright and other fellowships. His research has received 40 uninterrupted years of funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
A specialist on the New Testament and early Christianity, Wayne A. Meeks has authored dozens of articles and edited or authored several acclaimed books, including "The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul," "The Moral World of the First Christians" and "The Origins of Christian Morality: The First Two Centuries." He was named associate professor in the department of religious studies in 1969, after receiving M.A. (1964) and Ph.D. (1965) degrees from Yale. In 1973, he was appointed a full professor and in 1985 was named to the Woolsey Professorship. He chaired the department from 1972 to 1975 and was acting chair in 1978-79 and 1982-83. He directed the division of humanities from 1988 to 1991. Prior to his Yale appointment, Meeks taught at Indiana University and Dartmouth College. His professional affiliations include the Society of Biblical Literature, of which he was president in 1985. His many honors include election in 1992 as corresponding fellow of the British Academy.
Dr. Howard A. Pearson is an expert on child blood diseases who pioneered a comprehensive program to detect sickle cell disease in newborns. He was appointed professor of pediatrics at Yale and attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) in 1968, after serving on the medical school faculties of the University of Florida and Howard and Georgetown universities. Pearson chaired the School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and was chief of YNHH's pediatric service from 1974 to 1987. He has been medical director of Paul Newman's Hole In The Wall Gang Camp since 1986 and was its executive director from 1989 to 1991. A member of many professional societies, Pearson was president of the New England Pediatric Society in 1978-79 and of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1992. He has been editor or editorial board member of several journals. His numerous honors include the 1972 Francis Gilman Blake Award for most outstanding teacher and the 1996 Distinguished Career Award from the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
The founding director of Yale's Center for British Art, Jules D. Prown is a noted authority on American art, British art, and the study of material culture. In 1961, he was appointed instructor in the history of art department. He subsequently was named assistant professor, associate professor and, in 1971, full professor. He was appointed the Mellon Professor in 1986. He chaired the department from 1984 to 1987 and 1990 to 1992. From 1963 to 1968, he was curator of American art at the Yale University Art Gallery. As director of the nascent Center for British Art from 1968 to 1976, Prown played a key role in its planning and design. His numerous articles and books include "John Singleton Copley" (two volumes) and "American Painting from Its Beginnings to the Armory Show." In 1972, he was named Benjamin Franklin Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His other honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship and the College Art Association of America's 1996 Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award.
Dr. Howard M. Spiro has been at Yale since 1955, when he was appointed instructor of medicine and established the gastrointestinal section at the School of Medicine. He was named assistant professor in 1956, associate professor in 1961, and full professor in 1967. He was chief of the medical school's Gastrointestinal Section from 1955 to 1982. In 1963, with Dr. Vincent DeLuca, he founded the Yale Affiliated Gastroenterology Program, which encompassed most hospitals in the state and was the precursor of the Yale Affiliated Hospital Program. In 1983, with the late Enid Peschel, Spiro inaugurated the medical school's Program for Humanities in Medicine. In addition to dozens of articles that he authored or coathored, Spiro has seven books to his credit. He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology from 1979 to 1998 and book review editor of Gastroenterology from 1986 to 1989, and he has been a member of several editorial boards. His many honors include the 1989 Distinguished Educator Award from the American Gastroenterological Association.
Edward R. Tufte is author, designer and self-publisher of his books on information architecture: "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information," "Envisioning Information" and "Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative." His other books include "Political Control of the Economy," "Data Analysis for Politics and Policy" and "Size and Democracy" (with Robert Dahl). His books received 30 awards, including the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, Kammerer Award for the best book on public policy, and two Citation Classic awards. Tufte received a B.S. in 1963 and M.S. in 1964 from Stanford, and a Ph.D. from Yale in 1968. He taught at Princeton from 1967 to 1977 and at Yale from 1978 to 1999. He has received four honorary degrees and is a fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. During his retirement, Tufte will write, teach, do research and work in digital video.
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Gordon W. Williams assumed the Thacher Professorship upon joining the University's Department of Classics faculty in 1974. An expert on Roman social history, Williams had earned an international reputation as a dedicated scholar, skilled teacher, and engaging lecturer before coming to Yale, and was described by peers as one of the top Latinists in the world. Williams' esteemed published works include eight books, among them the celebrated volume "Tradition and Originality in Roman Poetry." Before his Yale appointment, he spent 10 years as a fellow at Balliol College, Oxford, then served as professor of humanity at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, from 1963 to 1974. In 1972-73, he delivered the Sather Classical Lectures at the University of California at Berkeley, at the time the nation's most prestigious classical lecture series. He chaired Yale's department of classics from 1987 to 1994. His current work-in-progress is titled "Literature and Ideology in the Age of Augustus."
-- By Felicia Hunter
T H I S
Bulletin Home
Emilia Viotti da Costa
Professor of History
Pierre R. Demarque
Munson Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy
Jerome M. Eisenstadt
Professor of Genetics
Frank W.K. Firk
Professor of Physics
Martin D. Gehner
Professor of Architectural Engineering
Jack S. Greenberg
Professor of Physics
Martin J. Klein
Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics & the History of Science
Dr. Howard Levitin
Professor of Internal Medicine
Juan Linz
Sterling Professor of Political and Social Science
Dr. Bernard Lytton
Donald Guthrie Professor of Surgery/Urology
Dr. John C. Marsh
Professor of Medicine and Lecturer in Pharmacology
William J. McGuire
Professor of Psychology
Wayne A. Meeks
Woolsey Professor of Biblical Studies
Dr. Howard A. Pearson
Professor of Pediatrics
Jules D. Prown
Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art
Dr. Howard M. Spiro
Professor of Medicine
Edward Tufte
Professor of Political Science, Statistics, Computer Science; Senior Critic, School of Art
Gordon W. Williams
Thomas A. Thacher Professor of Latin
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