After 32 years of service, Lucid announces retirement

Suffering from severe eye condition English Professor Robert Lucid has announced plans to retire at the end of the school year, according to Provost Stanley Chodorow. Lucid is currently chairperson of the administration's Collegiate Planning program and faculty master at Hill House. In a letter addressed to English Department Chairperson Wendy Steiner, Lucid explained that his retirement is due in part to a severe eye condition called macular degeneration. "Not only has the reading vision in my right eye permanently gone, but the left eye, which suffers from the same condition, has a certain probability of going the same way," he explained. Macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans, is a condition that gradually destroys central vision needed for seeing at both near and far distances. Severe forms of the condition are considered untreatable. "[My vision] might go tomorrow, or it might never go -- but all I can do is follow the odds," Lucid said. The announcement came as a shock to University administrators, Chodorow said. "[Lucid] has had a long and distinguished career on this campus," said Chris Dennis, director of Academic Programs in Residence, of Lucid's 32-year career at the University. And Steiner said Lucid was "instrumental in founding the college house program." According to Chodorow, Lucid has been "the leader in the collegiate planning effort," a step toward what Lucid calls "virtual colleges." Dennis said there was a spirit of collegiality that "touched everything he did." "No one was more dedicated to joint faculty-student interface," he said. For the past 18 years, Lucid has also served as faculty master of Hill House. As faculty master, Lucid presides over the 17 small communities at Hill, striving to bring them into a cohesive community, according to Tracy Feld, acting assistant dean in residence. Feld added that Lucid was "pivotal in interfacing with the rest of the University." "Dr. Lucid and his wife Joanne have made Hill the uncommon place it is," she said. She said Lucid's wisdom and knowledge, coupled with his patience and sense of humor, have earned him love and respect from students and faculty alike. Chodorow could not speculate yesterday as to who will be chosen to take over Lucid's duties, but he added that separate people may be chosen for each of his positions. "Whoever succeeds him as chair of the planning board will have the support and collective experience and ideas of the others involved [in the program]," Chodorow said. Chodorow added that he expects the transition to a new leader to be a smooth one. According to Dennis, Lucid will be remembered as "one of the most dramatic influences ever on undergraduate education at Penn." "Bob Lucid will be succeeded," Chodorow said. "He won't be replaced."