Students, faculty mourn loss of history professor

Professor Irving Katz always took the stairs up to his office on the seventh floor of Ballantine Hall. Across the hall, Claude Clegg, the chair of the history department, admired his stamina, but couldn’t bring himself to do the same.\n“I tried to walk up the stairs,” he said. “But that lasted about a week.” \nStill, “He was a good model of health for me,” Clegg said. \nOn Jan. 24, Katz’s good health failed him in New York City, where he died from complications due to a hip injury. He was 75.\nBut students and faculty won’t forget the impact Katz had on their lives. \nIn 1968, the New York City native arrived at IU to teach history and Jewish studies. Despite his new location, he never stopped being a New Yorker. \n“I think he only read The New York Times,” said 2000 graduate Christin Nance Lazerus, one of Katz’s former students. \nAll agreed that Katz was a unique character, interested in politics and the origin of names. He challenged his students to do well, pushing them to their potential. \n“He could rub you the wrong way if you didn’t want to be pushed,” Nance Lazerus said. “He was very good at challenging you ... he just wanted you to do your best. I was always excited when he gave me an A.” \nBut his specific criticisms and precise nature didn’t keep him from being light-hearted. \n“I’ve never seen him in a bad mood,” Clegg said. \nIn 1991, Katz received the Student Choice Award for Outstanding Faculty in the history department. Former student and 2002 graduate Rachel Kipp remembers his class as one that she, like many of her fellow students, was sorry to miss. She said he was well-known as a good professor. \n“People on campus knew who he was,” Kipp said. \nFormer student and 2005 graduate Jodi Miskell said Katz was a man who rarely used e-mail, but “was open and frank and always willing to take the time for a student.” \n“I think professors who take an interest in students’ lives and keep their discussions lively, like Professor Katz, are what make college such a transformative time,” Miskell said in an e-mail interview. “They are the people who teach you about life at the same time as they’re teaching you something else.” \nWhen Katz retired in 2002, he received the Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion, an award that recognized his service to Residential Programs and Services. He was a Residential Fellow, and he placed importance on the residence halls as part of the college experience. \nThe Professor Irving Katz Residence Hall Student Scholarship was created in his honor. The award provides a $1,000 scholarship to a student who, according to the RPS Web site, “exemplifies Irving’s commitment to merging the academic and residential lives of undergraduate students.” \nKatz made a deep impression on many of his students and fellow faculty members. They remember him as a meticulous man who took attendance out loud and had a penchant for good-natured jokes. \n“Some of what he said just really stuck with me,” Kipp said.