I had your dad as a professor. He was brilliant, funny and unforgettable...though not the most kind hearted professor I ever had. He used to refer to all of his students as "no more than bags of hormones"-- to their face. I found it funny but some were rather insulted. I remember he used to say that we were all ultimately ruled by our "reptilian midbrain." Not the best at building self esteem in young people, but he made up for it in other ways He was never boring and we actually learned from him. His temper was legendary. My favorite episode was during a joint interdisciplinary lecture he had the floor and he had previously warned a particularly irritating colleague of his, I believe the name was Professor Weissberg, that if he interrupted his lecture he would regret it. So Professor Weissberg 5 minutes into your dad's lecture annoyingly interrupts him simply to point out that one of the "Y" chromosomes your father wrote out on the blackboard looked a bit too much like an "X"chromosome. Professor PV then said in front of a 200 student seminar what was not the most eloquent words he ever said, but the most memorable words I ever heard from a professor. I quote verbatim-- "Fuck, fuck fuck! I told you little fucker not to interrupt my lesson," threw the chalk at him and stormed out. While it may have been a slight overreaction and certainly not his most professional moment (I believe he later apologized), I remember at the time that the general feeling among the students after being stunned was that the other professor was duly forewarned and deserved it. No one who had your dad as a teacher would ever forget him. As they say in the Jewish tradition, "may his memory be a blessing." You can rest assured that he is well remembered to this day with fondness and respect.
I had your dad as a professor. He was brilliant, funny and unforgettable...though not the most kind hearted professor I ever had. He used to refer to all of his students as "no more than bags of hormones"-- to their face. I found it funny but some were rather insulted. I remember he used to say that we were all ultimately ruled by our "reptilian midbrain." Not the best at building self esteem in young people, but he made up for it in other ways He was never boring and we actually learned from him. His temper was legendary. My favorite episode was during a joint interdisciplinary lecture he had the floor and he had previously warned a particularly irritating colleague of his, I believe the name was Professor Weissberg, that if he interrupted his lecture he would regret it. So Professor Weissberg 5 minutes into your dad's lecture annoyingly interrupts him simply to point out that one of the "Y" chromosomes your father wrote out on the blackboard looked a bit too much like an "X"chromosome. Professor PV then said in front of a 200 student seminar what was not the most eloquent words he ever said, but the most memorable words I ever heard from a professor. I quote verbatim-- "Fuck, fuck fuck! I told you little fucker not to interrupt my lesson," threw the chalk at him and stormed out. While it may have been a slight overreaction and certainly not his most professional moment (I believe he later apologized), I remember at the time that the general feeling among the students after being stunned was that the other professor was duly forewarned and deserved it.
ReplyDeleteNo one who had your dad as a teacher would ever forget him.
As they say in the Jewish tradition, "may his memory be a blessing." You can rest assured that he is well remembered to this day with fondness and respect.