History professor Maxine Lurie recently announced that she will retire at the end of the semester, and, along with a long list of accomplishments, she'll leave behind some sad students.
After teaching at Marquette University and then Rutgers University, Lurie found herself at Seton Hall and has been here for 17 years.
"I love that I get to know my students really well at Seton Hall," she said.
Lurie began her undergraduate career as a physics major, but the first time she felt a document that was over 200 years old she fell in love with history and decided to make it the focal point of her career.
Now with a Ph.D in American history, Lurie, according to her former student , junior Jeffrey Cash, teaches classes with enthusiasm. Lurie teaches courses including Colonial America, American Revolution, New Nation and several others for her students. She has written several books and worked on some with other historians including one titled "The Encyclopedia of New Jersey" and another titled "Mapping New Jersey."
While Lurie could use retirement as an opportunity for a break from research, she said she has other plans.
Lurie is hoping to write at least two more books in the years to come and has begun working on one of them. She also plans on spending extra time in her beautifully self groomed garden, with her husband who is also a recent retiree, and with her four young grandchildren.
"It'll be really nice to have my house clean, and to be able to travel with my husband, but I really can't think of not working," Lurie said. She even plans to teach a graduate course at Seton Hall in the fall.
It will certainly make a lot of students happy to know that she won't be too far. Cash said she was inspiring in the classroom.
"To have a teacher be so passionate about what she is teaching is truly refreshing," Cash said. "As a history major, it's that kind of passion that gets me through the heavy coursework."
Lurie said that she hopes to leave behind an appreciation for history with her students and that if she has done so thus far, then she has done her job.
While Lurie will still be retiring, it will not be the type of retirement most people think of right away.
"I have no intention of sitting still," Lurie said.
Megan Kelly can be reached at megan.kelly@student.shu.edu.
