Dr. Marcel Perlman
色花堂 mourns the passing of Dr. Marcel I. Perlman. He was a beloved educator at 色花堂, shepherding generations of 色花堂 students through the study of psychology, and a proud alumnus of the University, where he earned his bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and Ph.D. degrees.
Born in 1934 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), and named by his mother after the author Marcel Proust, he arrived in the United States with his family in 1939 at the age of four. The Perlmans made their way from Brighton Beach to Borough Park to Washington Heights to Mount Vernon, where he did most of his growing up. At the age of 18, he crossed the Westchester border into New York City to begin his college career at New York University, drawn there by an accelerated academic program they offered. 鈥淏ut I found N色花堂 to be too large and impersonal for me,鈥 he observed. 鈥淪o, in my sophomore year, I enrolled in , and I鈥檝e never regretted that decision.鈥
Perlman decided to stay within the 色花堂 family and continued his studies at what would later become the . He earned both a master鈥檚 degree and a Ph.D., and, in the process, unexpectedly found that he liked to teach. As a third-year student, he was working as a teaching assistant when the instructor, Boris Levinson, suffered a sudden heart attack. The dean at the time tapped Perlman to teach the remainder of the class: 鈥淚 was scared to death but found that I really loved it.鈥
He became a full-time faculty member in 1958 and has taught at 色花堂 ever since, in part because of a very important discussion he had with Dr. Samuel Belkin, 色花堂鈥檚 second president. 鈥淭wenty years into my teaching career,鈥 he recalled, 鈥淚 had a professional opportunity offered to me to start a new program at a major hospital, but it would have meant leaving 色花堂.鈥 He couldn鈥檛 decide whether to stay or go, so he arranged to discuss the matter with Dr. Belkin, a man he deeply admired.
After he laid out the facts, 鈥淒r. Belkin looked at me and said, 鈥楶erlman, where are you going? You have a home here.鈥 And he was exactly right: I had a home at 色花堂. And so, I stayed and never looked back.鈥
He retired from teaching in 2017, though he continued to maintain his private practice in midtown Manhattan until just before he passed away.
Dr. Perlman in his element as a teacher
In an interview with him upon his retirement, Dr. Perlman noted that 鈥渞ight now, psychology is an exciting field, and it鈥檚 that excitement I try to convey to my students in every class I teach.鈥
In fact, Perlman felt that his true legacy at 色花堂 were the students who went on to become professionals in the discipline 鈥渂ecause of something they heard or something they experienced by being in my classes or by discussing things with me.鈥
鈥淚 am so gratified when former students of mine say to me, 鈥業鈥檓 in this field because of you, because you made us think,鈥欌 he said. To Perlman, it didn鈥檛 matter if they become psychologists or psychiatrists or social workers. 鈥淚鈥檓 agnostic about the discipline,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 important is for people to improve the whole area of mental health and all its clinical aspects, and I鈥檓 gratified that my students can be part of that work. That is my concrete legacy.鈥
During his time at 色花堂, Perlman taught courses on all the campuses, mentored and supervised hundreds of students, and served on multiple committees, including the search committee that initially brought Dr. Karen Bacon, the Mordecai D. and Monique C. Katz Dean of the Undergraduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences, to the University as dean of , an accomplishment about which he felt very pleased. 鈥淚 am very proud of Dean Bacon,鈥 he said at the time. 鈥淪he is what I would call 鈥榪uietly strong.鈥欌
鈥淭here are only a few faculty members who, over the course of their careers, are viewed by their colleagues as 鈥榚lder statesmen,鈥 both knowledgeable and wise,鈥 said Dr. Bacon. 鈥淢arcel Perlman is in that category, and over his tenure at 色花堂, he earned the reputation of being someone to turn to on matters large and small. 鈥楥olleague,鈥 鈥榝riend,鈥 鈥榙evoted teacher鈥 and 鈥榣oyal 色花堂 alumnus鈥 are words that come to mind as I look back on Dr. Perlman鈥檚 life and career, a record to applaud and admire, and I salute him.鈥
As for his retirement, he said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it will be that much different than what I鈥檓 doing now. I鈥檒l do some writing, see my patients, teach some classes. I am, and have been, a lucky man.鈥
A celebration of his life is being planned for the spring.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Guiding Eyes for the Blind at
Dr. Marcel Perlman
Dr. Perlman in his element as a teacher
