Dr. Laurence Thomas

Laurence was an unforgettable part of my experience at Syracuse. From the moment I stepped into PHI 191, as a freshman, I was captivated and scintillated by his teaching style. I regularly attended his 'office hours'; not in a stodgy campus office, but instead on Marshall Street, where he picked up the food tab weekly for any student who would come join him for conversation. By the time I graduated from Syracuse, I had taken multiple classes from him; yet it was outside the classroom that I...

When I was an undergrad he was one of the very few instructors, if not the only one, that would stop by dorm lounges to hang out and talk about whatever topic came up. He was warm yet professional and polished, and somehow never intimidating. He will be missed by many.

Laurence asked one of the first questions at my job talk (I remember both the challenging question and my reply well). Once I was hired, he was my faculty mentor and helped me learn how to start publishing. I will not forget my debt of gratitude to him, nor his charismatic presence in the classroom. Laurence evaluated students with end of term "interviews" even for large lectures. He had AI-proofed his grading decades before AI walloped most of our classrooms. He will be missed but neither he...

A great man has passed, and I'm deeply affected. Lawrence was my professor, my mentor, and my friend. His enormous intellect and sharp insight were eclipse only by his enormous heart and kindness. He learned French so that he could read Jewish scholars in their language. He came to visit me when I was living in France and it's one of my fondest memories. I felt so honored. I keep his gifts to me on my work desk, including his book "Vessels of Evil", and a framed beautiful photograph taken...