U. members noted professor

The memorial service held Wednesday for popular Penn Criminology Professor Marvin Wolfgang paid tribute to the life of a pioneer in the field of sociology who passed away April 12 after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 73. Eleven of Wolfgang's friends and colleagues, all prominent in their fields, shared fond memories, silly stories and condolences with a group of more than 150 people packed into the Alumni Hall of the Faculty Club on 36th Street. Born in Millersburg, Pa. in 1924, Wolfgang -- named "the most influential criminologist in the English-speaking world" by the British Journal of Criminology -- was the director of the University's Sellin Center for Studies in Criminology and Critical Law. The first recipient of his namesake prize, the Wolfgang Award for Achievement in Criminology, Wolfgang also received two Guggenheim Fellowships and a Fulbright Prize. He published more than 200 articles and 35 books on criminology and served as president of the American Society of Criminology. Everyone present at the memorial expressed deep admiration for the longtime University City resident whose nearly 46 years at Penn made an impact on the local community and beyond. Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, called Wolfgang "the intellectual embodiment of Ghandi." Wolfgang was remembered for his persistence in trying to reform prisons, despite the fact that such work was unpopular in a nation eager to punish criminals. Julia Glover Hall, president of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, explained that Wolfgang was often willing to sacrifice his "international reputation to the thankless job" of prison reform. Wolfgang was interested in social issues relevant to both the United States and the rest of the world, according to the speakers. His research dealing with Chinese demographics "was his most important work because it influenced legislative bodies around the world," said Ira Lipman, chairperson and chief executive officer of Guardsmark, Inc., a security service provider with which Wolfgang worked closely. Recently, Wolfgang had been working on a 10-year study of juvenile delinquency in China. He was a strong opponent of the death penalty and his research findings were used in the U.S. Supreme Court's 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision, which abolished the nationwide death penalty. It was reinstated in 1977. According to Lynn Curtis, president of the Milton Eisenhower Foundation, an anti-violence commission, Wolfgang based his work on the belief that all policy should be based on scientific evaluation rather than political ideology. Bernard Cohen, a professor of criminology at Queens College in New York and the first student to receive a Ph.D from Wolfgang's Criminology Department, described him as warm and communicative, a teacher who "always offered a 'yes' '' and who "taught by example." Others remembered Wolfgang's enthusiasm. Freda Adler, past president of the American Society of Criminology, said that Wolfgang's "youthful exuberance and recognition as a scholar made our society grow." Wolfgang is survived by his wife Lenora, a French professor at Lehigh University, his two daughters and two grandchildren. Wolfgang's daughter Nina, who attended the memorial, said that, "everyone said something that came from the heart, speaking not only as a professional but as a friend."