B.U. Political Science Professor, Scholar-Activist, Dies at 72

Boston University (B.U.) Professor of Political Science Emeritus Murray B. Levin '48, a member of the Quincy House Senior Common Room and a scholar-activist, died last Wednesday of heart problems. He was 72.

Colleagues and former students remembered Levin for a lifetime of urging his students to challenge authority.

Joseph Boskin, a professor of American social history at B.U., said his colleague's devotion to teaching was truly extraordinary.

"He embraced his students, and brought them into his world," he said.

Eric Simon, a former student and close friend, said Levin wanted his students to connect their political views with their personal lives, reminding his class of simple truths like, "it's good to do good things for people."

Levin, who urged his students to stand up for what they believed, practiced what he preached as a member of the so-called "B.U. Five," a group of tenured professors who taught classes outside to protest the administration failure to grant secretaries the right to unionize.

Emphatically pro-labor and usually siding with the disenfranchised, Levin maintained throughout his career that the United States had become prosperous by exploiting women, minorities and the poor.

Still, his classes always explored both sides of an issue. He wanted to challenge and exchange ideas, and even students who disagreed with his political beliefs found his classes compelling.

Simon said he remembers his first class with Levin a decade ago. He especially recalled the professor's passion for America's social issues.

"'If you want to learn how Congress works or how the presidency works, you're in the wrong place,'" Levin had told the class. "'But if you want to learn about what makes America tick then this class is for you.'"

In addition to his devotion to American social issues, Levin also had a lighter side.

Simon remembered a sign Levin had posted on his door to keep students away while he was napping. It read, 'Professor Levin in the Sudan. Be Back Tuesday, 11:03.'

And, Simon recalled, Levin's dedication to his students was not limited to the classroom; sometimes, he would help them with their love lives.

After graduating from Harvard and earning his doctorate at Columbia, Levin taught at Columbia and served in the Navy before teaching at B.U., where he stayed for the next 35 years.

Levin has also served as a political analyst for the CBS, NBC and PBS television networks.

Levin is the author of several books, including The Alienated Voter: Politics in Boston (1960), two books on Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.), and Talk Radio and the American Dream (1987).

After retiring from B.U. in 1990, Levin taught at the Harvard Extension School and spent a few years teaching under-privileged students in Boston. This experience inspired his most recent book, Teach Me: Kids Will Learn When Oppression Is the Lesson (1998).

Levin's funeral takes place today at 11 a.m. in the Levine Chapel in Brookline. Friends and colleagues plan to set up a Murray Levin Scholarship fund for under-privileged children to continue his legacy.

Levin is survived by his wife, Helen; a son, Joshua; and three stepchildren, Seth, Jessica and Jacob Goldstein, a Harvard senior.