Memorial for Eli Katz, defender of academic freedom, on Aug. 20

Eli Katz, who retired from SSU as Professor of Linguistics in 1992, died on July 22 from complications of a third stroke. He was 77. Katz, a noted Yiddish scholar, translator and professor whose refusal to answer questions about his political affiliations and beliefs led to his dismissal from the faculty at UC Berkeley in 1964 and ignited a fight over academic freedom, came to Sonoma in l970 to join the new Department of Ethnic Studies. He specialized in Euro-American immigrant experience, especially the experience of Jewish Americans. He stayed in this department as it evolved into the Department of American Multicultural Studies. Together with emerita Professor of Anthropology Shirley Silver he developed the SSU program in Linguistics which is now part of the Department of Anthropology. He had taught previously at San Diego State College, Western Reserve University, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Katz was very active in faculty governance at SSU, serving on many Academic Senate and School of Social Science committees. He served as Chair of the Academic Senate during l978-79. He also served a term as President of the Sonoma chapter of the United Professors of California which eventually merged into the present faculty union, the California Faculty Association.

According to his close friend and colleague, Professor Victor Garlin of SSU's Department of Economics, Katz was "a calming, unifying influence in University affairs, who always approaching an issue thoughtfully and sensitively, thoroughly deserving the high esteem in which he was held by the entire University community." Katz was a humane, soft-spoken person who never sought leadership, but often had it thrust on him. He was a cultured, erudite person with many interests, fluent in the language and literature a number of languages, and an accomplished violist and chamber musician.

He had a strong social conscience and he was committed through his life to causes associated with the achievement of social justice, Garlin said. "He will be sorely missed by his family, and by his many friends and colleagues."

A memorial gathering will be held at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 20. For obituaries written about him recently, please visit the LA Times or the SF Chronicle reports.

Say Goodbye to Terilynn

A going away party for Terilynn Bench is set for Friday, Aug. 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. in Salazar Conference Room A. This will be the last day Bench will be back on campus, so colleagues are invited to stop by for a little refreshment and to wish her well in her new position at Cal Maritime.