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Prof. Schiff, College Master, Dies
The Statesman Friday October 3, 1969 Dr. Ashley Schiff, Political Science Professor and Master of Benjamin Cardozo College, died suddenly Wednesday morning. He was 37 years old. Death came to the popular professor in Mather Hospital, where he had been hospitalized briefly for a bronchial infection. He is survived by his widow and three children. Dr. Schiff was widely recognized at Stony Brook for his ceaseless devotion to undergraduate education. His reputation as the faculty member most concerned with making the Residential College Program an integral part of student life was widespread. As a College Master, Ashley Schiff provided the residents of Cardozo College with a seemingly unending flow of celebrity guest visitors, with a calendar of educational events unmatched by any of Stony Brook’s twenty other residential colleges. It was Ashley Schiff, more than any other man in this University, who proved that with the proper spirit and energy it was possible for living and learning in one setting to be a truly meaningful experience. He had once refused to bring a belly dancer to Cardozo, as his students had requested, because this was not an educational experience. But he did arrange a speaking engagement in the gym for Boston Celtic star Bill Russell – only after making certain that Russell had something more than locker-room stories to tell students. Schiff was directly responsible for the Stony Brook appearances of such celebrities as Albert Shanker, Alfred Lowenstein, and for for last Spring’s Cardozo dedication dinner speaker former Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg. The University’s first fully credited course sponsored by a residential college was given in Cardozo last semester, as a result of the energies of Ashley Schiff. Dr. Schiff was also an ardent conservationist and an excellent teacher. By now nearly everyone knows of his efforts to save Stony Brook’s trees from the bulldozers of progress. The graduating classes of 1968 and 1969 both named Schiff one of the five professors whose teaching meant most to them. His death saddened all members of the University Community. President John Toll called him “a close friend whose valuable contributions to his University will long live after him.” Polity President Lonnie Wolfe said, “our lives will be better for having known him.” Plans for a University memorial service wo be held on campus will be announced early next week.
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