Get to Know Saul Lerner
Update
We are saddened to share that after 55 years at Purdue University Northwest, Professor of History Saul Lerner passed away in February 2022.
See Our Tribute to Professor Lerner
Original Post
Dr. Saul Lerner has been a faculty member for us since 1967. For those familiar with the Department of History & Philosophy, they surely know of Dr. Lerner and the role he has played in the department’s creation and evolution throughout the years.
Background
Dr. Lerner was born and raised in Youngstown, OH, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University. He majored in history, studying American History, English History, and European History, while also minoring in several other disciplines including psychology, sociology, and German. The next stop in his academic journey took him to the University of Kansas where he began work on his Master’s Degree. Aided by nearly 800 archival volumes found in the university’s library, Dr. Lerner’s MA studies focused on a statistical and demographic analysis of Pennsylvania politics during the American Revolution. Dr. Lerner also worked in the university’s archives, transcribing a collection of 19th century German letters and writings from Old German to Modern German and then translating them to English.
Following completion of the Master’s Degree, Dr. Lerner stayed at the University of Kansas and began work on his PhD. His dissertation examined concepts of history, progress, and perfectibility in 19th century American Transcendentalist thought. This topic included consideration of the parallelism between European intellectuals and American romantics.
Toward the end of his PhD program, Dr. Lerner began a teaching assistantship at the University of Kansas and taught in an honors section of the university’s Western Civilization program. The world of academia was a good fit for Dr. Lerner and he continued his work in education by teaching at a liberal arts college in upstate New York. He was at this institution for four years when he decided he wanted to work at an urban college near a large city. Dr. Lerner fielded several offers from various universities but was steadfast in finding an institution that met with his personal goals. Purdue Northwest, then known as Purdue University Calumet, offered him a position in an environment that intrigued him and in the fall of 1967, Dr. Lerner joined the faculty.
Knowledge about the content of the courses. Secondly, an appreciation of understanding something about the history of the particular area that they’re dealing with, and, third, an awareness of the importance of learning as a process.