Professor Corey Mugged, Robbed

Elias J. Corey, Sheldon Emery Professor of Organic Chemistry, was mugged and robbed of $550 by three teen-agers on Oxford Street Tuesday night.

Corey was walking near Pierce Hall about 9:30 p.m. when the youths jumped him. "They were well-dressed, not hippies or beatniks or anything like that," Corey said yesterday. "They could have passed for students, but I knew they weren't," he added.

The youths ran off with Corey's wallet, but left it in Christ Church on Garden Street after removing $550 in cash. Corey recovered negotiable traveler's checks worth $200 which the youths did not take from the wallet.

"A detective told me there are 10 or 15 thefts or beatings around the Square each week," Corey said. Cambridge police yesterday declined to release assault statistics. They have made no arrests in the case.