Professor Warren Lerner 1929-2007

UPDATE: Obituary is posted here - http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/print.cfm?type=obituary&o_id=168174&fh_id=10877&s_id=8304E690667C8835085A916FA5260BF4

I just received word that one of my Professors in the MALS Program, Dr. Warren Lerner, passed away yesterday. Going to his class was always like going to "storytime." Professor Lerner would give a 2 hour lecture with no notes on the history of communism and tell it with such fervor that you would think he was actually there. The loss of Professor Lerner is saddening to the students of Duke University and the wider academic community. Peace to his family and friends. I received some info about his passing, and some excerpts are here.

"Warren was a pillar of the history and Slavic studies communities at Duke
and in the Triangle since he was first appointed at Duke in 1961. During
his four-and-a-half decades at Duke, Warren served as chair of the Duke
History Department and as a member of the Policy Committee of the Center for
Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies from its inception. In addition
to Warren's extraordinary contributions to the Department of History and
CSEEES, his years of teaching for the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and
Focus programs and for the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies forever
changed the shape of those units, their faculties, and students.

An author of many notable books and articles on 20th century Soviet history,
Warren Lerner was a leading scholar and teacher who supervised dozens of
doctoral students, many of whom now teach at universities throughout North
America. To the thousands of undergraduate and graduate students he taught
during his long tenure at Duke, Warren was a gifted, generous, engaging
teacher.

For those of us who had the privilege to work with Warren Lerner, he is
simply irreplaceable. Warren was a generous and kind friend and colleague
to so many of us; his impact on our lives will never be forgotten. In the
dictionary, next to the word "mensch" you'll see a picture of Warren Lerner.
He will be sorely missed.

We invite anyone who would like to share their thoughts and remembrances of
Warren with us to send an email to mnewcity@duke.edu. We will post them on
our web site. "


From: Edna Andrews and Michael Newcity
Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
Duke University