Albert SOMIT

1919 - 2020

SOMIT - Albert
Former Executive Vice President of the University at Buffalo (UB), was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 25, 1919, son of Mary Rosenblum Somit and Sam Somit. He died on August 2, 2020, at 100 years of age. Al graduated from Roosevelt High School, then earned his AB degree in History and Political Science at the University of Chicago in 1941. He returned to the University of Chicago in 1943, where he continued his education in Political Science, earning his PhD in 1947, while already teaching at New York University (NYU). Somit served twice in the US Army. In 1942 and 1943, he trained GIs in Needles, California, for possible desert combat. Later, he was in Military Intelligence in Germany, from 1951 to 1953. He then returned to NYU where he taught and held several administrative positions until 1966, when he was recruited as Chair of Political Science at UB. He moved up through the ranks to Executive Vice President (1970-1980), serving as Acting President during the 1976-1977 academic year. In 1980, he was named the 14th chief executive of Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), serving as President until he retired from administration in 1987. A true scholar, Somit remained active in his faculty role: teaching, conducting research and writing; until he fully retired from SIU in 1992. Dr. Somit continued his scholarly work in Southern California, his home for the rest of his life. He enjoyed two lifelong hobbies: playing classical music on the oboe and English horn, and playing tennis, which kept him physically active through his one hundredth year. With his wife Lyn, Somit established several endowments at four institutions of higher education, including UB. To date, more than 150 young people have benefited from their generosity. Al's family would be happy to see memorial gifts added to the Mary Rosenblum Somit Scholarship Endowment, designated for undergraduates in UB's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. (Somit Scholarship Endowment, UB Foundation, PO Box 900, Buffalo, NY 14226). He was preceded in death by his first wife, Leyla. He is survived by his wife, Lyn Corder; and by his sons, Scott Somit (wife, Carol Hanak Somit), and Jed Somit (wife, Toni Maines); five grandchildren, Micah Somit (wife, Jennifer Somit), Max Somit, Hal Somit (wife, Brittany Faria Somit), Jacob Somit, (wife, Elisa Fischer), and Julia Somit; and two great-grandchildren. He is greatly missed by Lyn's children, Ryan Muldoon (wife, Michelle Frain Muldoon), Cory Muldoon (wife, Laura Mullkoff), Maureen Muldoon (husband, Scott Lothes), and four grandsons. He is also missed by close friends Judy Ashby and Hugh Muldoon, co-author Steven Peterson, and Nora Post to whom he was married in the late 1970s and who remained a true friend throughout his life. A celebration of his life will be scheduled when it is safe to travel and gather in person to add Albert Somit's ashes to the Memory Garden at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo.