“From the first class on I was hooked”

My first memory of [Professor Lowi] is from Government 111, which was the Intro to American Politics class. This would have been Fall of 2005. I had been part of a group in high school called We The People, for my AP Government class, and we had used the textbook of the same name. When I realized upon entering class that this was the Theodore Lowi from WTP, it genuinely felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity. From the first class on I was hooked. I learned how to get the most from class (sit close to the front, take notes voraciously). I remember that he would always have his TA set up his digital recorder, which would capture all of lecture for anyone who missed class. Mostly I remember that he didn’t lecture with powerpoint -- that he just talked. Lecture was story-time, and if you only paid attention you could grasp the moral. It’s something that I have taken to heart myself, and will aim to emulate in my own teaching.

As I continued through classwork, I made every attempt to take [Professor Lowi’s] classes. There was one -- Government 428 (listed as 728 if you were a grad student), that I took as a sophomore. I remember being petrified: What on earth was I thinking, taking a class that was cross-listed with graduate students?  It was Public Policy analysis, I believe, and it was fascinating. [He] blended stories with class material, so I barely noticed I was learning. We went through his four-fold typology of policies. And I remember preparing for the final exam: we were given five essays to prepare, knowing we’d be asked to write two of them. It was the hardest class I took at Cornell, and perhaps the best training for graduate school.

[And just] one last story, of what it was like to work with [Professor Lowi] on my undergraduate thesis. When I was trying to find an advisor, I actually didn’t even approach him. For some reason I had it in my head that he wouldn’t want to work with me, that only the really great got to work with Professor Lowi (he was, after all, the most accomplished Americanist in the department, and former President of APSA). So when I was told at the beginning of class early on that I would be working with him I was beside myself (and a little nervous). For a few months he helped me find my topic, refine it, and explore the literature. Finally when I came to him with my idea -- looking at the neoconservative movement, and how it engaged with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- I could tell he liked it. I could tell because...he told me not to “mess” it up (as you can guess, given [his penchant for] colorful language, he perhaps used another word). It became my mantra -- in part because he was so frank with me -- and was one of the reasons I stuck with the project, even when that February I was convinced I didn’t have enough time to finish it. Not only was I able to finish, but I’m fairly certain that [Lowi] lobbied for me to receive an award for it. I still have his typed comments in my diploma frame box, along with all of the graduation booklets and materials.

My undergraduate career at Cornell came to a close in the most fitting way possible: with an oration from [Ted Lowi]. My parents and siblings were there, and to this day cannot say enough about it and [Professor Lowi]. They adore him, in part because when Professor Kramnick announced my name and I shook the professors’ hands down the line, Professor Lowi gave me a hug instead. He’s genuinely one of the most encouraging, kindest people I have met. I think of myself as profoundly lucky to have spent [even] a few years with him.

I do have one bonus story [to share], which comes from my dad and not from me.  

My dad -- who also went to Cornell -- was an English major.  He was taking a class with Meyer Abrams (whom Professor Lowi referred to as “Mike,” and with whom I recall he was quite close), and the class was discussing Elizabethan poetry. To add an extra dimension to a recitation, Professor Abrams had a few of his friends come in to play along on their recorders. [Professor Lowi] (who at this point had yet to move briefly to Chicago; it was probably 1964 or so) played the tenor I believe. 

Not only is this a story that my dad told me before I attended Cornell and took a class from Professor Lowi, but it’s the reason that he took up playing the recorder himself. He has several -- ranging in sizes and tones -- that he plays every once in a while. It’s a part of him that he got from [Professor Lowi]. Another example of how the lives we live touch many others along the way.

Aaron Q. Weinstein

College of Arts and Sciences

Cornell Class of 2009