"You were the most significant catalyst in my life," Patricia Cooper wrote to her college geology professor. "You were instrumental in helping me to reach my goals by recognizing my potential, nurturing it often and guiding me to realize goals in gentle ways to improve." Mrs. Cooper, a former professor herself, is currently Associate Academic Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. She studied under Dr. Sam L. Agron in the late 1960s and her experience is testament to the impact a great teacher can have on a student's life. Dr. Agron died at 97 on August 12, 2018 at The Daughters of Israel Home in West Orange, New Jersey, after an illness of several months.
Immigrant Roots
Agron was born in Lugansk, Ukraine on November 27, 1920, one of four children born to Celia Greenspan and Joseph Agronovsky, a barber and musician with 6 years of service in the Russian army. The family fled Russia in 1924, arriving in New York harbor aboard a Cunard Line trans-Atlantic vessel. They were detained when it was discovered that the company had overbooked its immigrant passenger quota and were sent instead, to Southampton, England. During their 18-month stay, the family learned rudimentary English as Joseph Agronovsky resumed work as a barber. The family arrived at Ellis Island, shortened their name to Agron, and settled in Brooklyn in 1924 where he attended school, leading to graduation from Samuel J. Tilden High.
As a teenager Sam Agron was serious, motivated and industrious, working at several part-time jobs over the years during the Great Depression of the 1930s, including one as a delivery boy for the popular daily newspaper, "The Brooklyn Eagle." He excelled at his studies and entered Brooklyn College. When his family moved to Chicago he transferred to nearby Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He earned his B.A. as a geology major in June, 1941.
War Years
Agron worked as a shipfitter and loftsman at the Oakland (California) Navy Yard after graduating college. During his time in Oakland he endured a bout of dengue fever. While most workers were pulling together as war clouds loomed, he witnessed some nasty, often racially-charged confrontations. Agron pointed out that such racism was nationwide. He recalled the reaction of New Yorkers in 1938 just prior to the tense heavyweight boxing title bout. On one side was Max Schmeling, the champion of Hitler's Germany. His opponent was American champ, Joe Louis, nicknamed "The Brown Bomber." Although Louis is now an icon, at the time, many whites rooted for Schmeling, a telling indication of virulent racism which could supersede even patriotic considerations.
After Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into the war, Agron enrolled at the Midshipman School at Notre Dame University in Indiana. His naval service, beginning in 1942, included both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters as he rose to the rank of Lieutenant aboard a minesweeper which also was used for risky convoy operations. He recounted a number of "close calls," surviving hurricanes, typhoons, enemy submarine attacks, and scouring the sea for loose, floating mines, fiendishly difficult to spot in the dark of night. For his service he received the World War II Victory Medal and the American Campaign and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign medals.
During a brief shore leave in Norfolk Virginia in 1944, he married Beatrice Raiziss, a bacteriologist and daughter of a preeminent biochemist, Dr. George W. Raiziss. Beatrice Agron died in 1991.
Academia
Agron completed his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 1949 on the G.I. Bill, but found some obstacles in his path. He was offered a teaching position at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. At his final interview, he was introduced to the president of the college who asked what church he belonged to. Agron replied that he was Jewish, "Oh, I'm sorry," he was told by President Ralph Cooper Hutchison, a Presbyterian clergyman. "We don't hire Jewish faculty members." As it turned out, Lafayette's loss became a gain for prestigious Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1951 he took on a new challenge as chairman of the modest Geology Department of Rutgers University's Newark campus. By the 1960s he had built a respected undergraduate and graduate course of studies. He remained as chairman for 33 years, retiring in 1984. During his tenure, he introduced several multi-disciplinary and trailblazing courses such as Mineral Resources and Environmental Geology. Students learned that in the modern world it was important not merely to master the basics of geology, or earth science, but also to gain familiarity with other disciplines, such as political science, geography, and climatology to name some. This insightful, farsighted approach was decades before these matters became widely recognized and studied for their relevance and importance on a global basis. In addition he taught astronomy and oversaw the design and installation of the university's observatory.
Dr. Agron found departmental leadership rewarding insofar as he was empowered to leave his innovative imprint on an upgraded and solid curriculum base. On the negative side, however, he was burdened by energy-sapping bureaucratic imbroglios and petty faculty squabbles. The ivory tower was not immune from struggles within the greater society. McCarthyism took its toll on academic freedom in the 1960s. The civil rights and anti-Vietnam War issues of the ensuing decades demanded leadership with diplomacy, endurance, and the flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing conditions while all the while steering a steady course.
A promising instructor, Dr. Warren Manspeizer, lauded his mentor's loyalty and determination to fight for hard-working, talented faculty members. He recalled, "I can see him now, 50 years ago, speaking out at faculty meetings against bigotry and discrimination, challenging faculty and others to support civil rights issues. He was an honest, straight shooter. He was a role model." Dr. Agron had high standards in the classroom. It was not sufficient to come up with the right answer on a test. He painstakingly corrected each blue exam booklet for spelling and grammatical errors, much to the annoyance of some students, who later came to appreciate his effort to help them become better students and more precise thinkers. Agron's son Laurence observed that his integrity and strong sense of social justice and equal opportunity for all never wavered throughout his long and productive life. "It was particularly discouraging and disturbing for him to witness the present day political climate of our country whose leadership has inflicted such pain and suffering on our own recent immigrants and prospective immigrants."
Rutgers Oral History Archives
Not surprisingly, Agron was eagerly sought as a subject for the project called the Rutgers Oral History Archives. He represented the positive values and broad perspectives fostered by the university. Furthermore, the enterprise focused on many of the rapidly thinning ranks of "The Greatest Generation" of World War II veterans. In addition to his service in the armed forces, his encounters, struggles, and observations from the viewpoint of a depression era immigrant are revealed through his insightful and colorful tales of academic life from the perspective of a professor during a period of significant historical importance during tumultuous decades of change for both university and society. "I know where all the bodies are buried," he said with a wink.
In a 2006 interview for the project, he reflected upon the fulfillment the teaching profession had brought him. Not surprisingly, he felt "Teaching is the noblest profession; if done honestly and right, because without it, where would we be? And if it's done badly, where are we?"
Agron is survived by his wife of 24 years, artist Rita Agron of Boca Raton, Florida; a brother, retired psychiatrist Dr. Michael Agron of Melbourne, Australia; a daughter, Ginger Agron a philanthropist of Neptune, New Jersey; a son, photographer and journalist, Laurence Agron of Livingston, New Jersey; a daughter-in-law, Mira Agron of Livingston; and a granddaughter, Anat Agron of Houston, Texas. Agron was particularly fond of his niece, Nicki Agron of Melbourne; and nephews David Garron of Marietta, Georgia, Barry Garron of Mesa, Arizona, and Brian Agron of Fairfax, California.
In addition, Sam Agron leaves the memory of his playful, ready wit. In his final days, a concerned nurse asked, "Do you feel better, Sam?" He paused to reflect, and replied dryly, "Better than what?"
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18