We were shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden death of Professor Emeritus Burt Cohen who suffered an unexpected heart attack this past January while shoveling snow at his home. He had been part of a happy and spirited dinner party the evening before with his wife and some friends. What follows has been excerpted from the memorial resolution which was presented to the faculty.
Burton Herbert Cohen was born on September 6, 1925 in Hartford, Connecticut. After three years in the U. S. Army Air Corps, he began his formal education at UConn, earning a BA, MA, and Ph.D, the last in 1958. Burt joined the Lafayette faculty in September, 1959 and took an early retirement in 1988. He taught a variety of courses, served on many college committees, and had a solid research record, largely in verbal learning. Many students who learned research design and analysis under his tutelage continued their formal education, several of them entering the profession of college teaching. After his retirement, Burt continued and extended his hobby of acquiring and restoring precision measuring tools, especially early American ones. His wife, Bea, continues to live in their home at 831 Brodhead Street; their son, Earl, resides in California near his work at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories.