Bronx Socrates

Academic life regularly honors leading scholars but rarely recognizes those who have excelled in undergraduate teaching. This volume salutes Professor of Philosophy Robert H. Gurland, a paragon in the classroom, who recently retired after having taught over 25,000 students, primarily at New York University but also for a couple of years at the United States Military Academy at West Point. His impact on generations was immeasurable. Even in classes of over 200 he knew the names of all his students and something about each; over many decades he taught virtually the entire philosophy curriculum; and every semester he personally graded, with numerous detailed comments, the hundreds of papers submitted. In one student's words, echoed by numerous others, "Over the course of my education I have had many professors but only one teacher."