remembrance

Nancy Burns The main thing that stands out in my long list of memories of Sid is the astonishing way he built and managed collaborations over his 60 years of co-authorship. Never once did he do any of the standard things that make trouble for such...

Traci Burch When I was on the job market, I asked Sid for advice on dealing with tough questions during job talks. He told me that whenever I wanted to end a pointless argument and move on I should say, “Be that as it may...” and then talk about something...

Anthony Broh I have and will always associate Sidney Verba with Passover - hosting my family from the first year of our arrival in Brookline. The annual gathering with the Verba family, their numerous friends, and our colleagues around the Seder table...

Kristi Andersen & Goldie Shabad In 1976, we defended our University of Chicago dissertations — together in the same room! That was convenient for everyone, and somehow considered legitimate by the U of C (or possibly the facts were concealed from the...

John O. Field Sid Verba’s Advice to a Dissertation Writer When I was a graduate student at Stanford, Sid was my dissertation advisor (even though by the time I had written anything, he had moved to the University of Chicago). With an innocent sense of...

Morris Fiorina Shortly after I arrived at Harvard, Sid knocked on my door one day and asked if I wanted to go to the movies. Well, I thought, this is new to me, but maybe taking a study break and going to a movie with a colleague is standard practice at...

Dale Flecker I had the enormous good fortune to work closely with Sid for almost a quarter century when he served as Director of the Harvard University Library. There are so many things about Sid that stay with me from those years, but two stand out. The...

David Campbell As I was finishing grad school and heading off to become a baby professor, Sid told me a story (as he was wont to do). He described attending a recent college reunion, at which of many of his former classmates--most of whom had gone into...

Nancy M. Cline The world has lost a wonderful teacher, a gifted “statesman,” and a champion for fairness. Sid led Harvard’s libraries through many significant changes. The integration of automation across all the libraries, along with investments in...

Louise K. Comfort As an advanced graduate student completing his doctoral dissertation for the Department of Politics at Princeton University and lead graduate researcher for Gabriel Almond, Sidney Verba warmly welcomed me to the research team for the...