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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate were saddened 
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to learn of the passing of Karl Joachim "Jock" Weintraub of 
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Hyde Park on March  25, 2004; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Karl Joachim Weintraub was born in Darmstadt, 
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Germany, to a Jewish father and a Christian mother and spent 
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his childhood at a Quaker boarding school in Holland, where he 
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was hidden during World War II by a Christian family and 
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afterwards was sent by the Quakers to live in America, where he 
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eventually found his way to Chicago and enrolled at the 
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University of Chicago; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Mr. Weintraub received a bachelor of arts degree 
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in 1949, a master of arts in 1952, and a Ph.D. in History in 
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1957; he began teaching as an intern in 1954 at the University 
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of Chicago, where he spent 60 years as a student, professor, 
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and an inspiring mentor to generations of students; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Mr.  Weintraub's course on Western History and 
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Culture had a "rock concert-like" appeal, with spring long 
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being marked by students sleeping out on the university's 
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quadrangle the night before registration in order to secure a 
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place in his class, which many alumni recall as a centerpiece 
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of their education; and
 
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    WHEREAS, He continued to teach his course even after 
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retiring and refused to accept a salary in quiet protest of the 
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changing styles in higher education, explaining that his 
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experiences with Nazism deepened his determination to keep his 
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course alive; and
 
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    WHEREAS, In addition to teaching at the University of 
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Chicago, he shared his knowledge by serving as a Life Trustee 
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for Knox College; and
 
 


 






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    WHEREAS, Mr. Weintraub also served as a trustee of the Art 
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Institute of Chicago and on the Board of Governors of the 
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School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Mr. Weintraub was the Thomas E. Donnelly 
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Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in History at the 
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University of Chicago, where his teaching skills earned him two 
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Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 
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1960 and 1986, the Danforth Foundation's E. Harris Harbison 
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Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1967, and the Amoco 
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Foundation Award for Distinguished Contributions to 
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Undergraduate Teaching in 1995; and
 
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    WHEREAS, In 2001, he received the Norman Maclean Alumni 
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Award, which recognizes emeritus and senior faculty members who 
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have made outstanding contributions to teaching and to the 
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student experience of life on campus; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Karl Joachim Weintraub was an esteemed scholar and 
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the author of numerous publications, including two books, 
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Visions of Culture: 
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Voltaire-Guizot-Burckhardt-Lamprecht-Huizinga-Ortega y Gassett 
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(1966) and The Value of the Individual: Self and Circumstance 
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in Autobiography (1978); and


 
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    WHEREAS, The passing of Karl Joachim Weintraub's passing 
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will be  deeply felt by many, especially his wife, Katy O'Brien 
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Weintraub; his sister, Tatjana Wood; and his many colleagues, 
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former students, friends, and family; therefore, be it
 
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    RESOLVED,  BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of 
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Karl Joachim Weintraub along with all who knew and loved him 
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and extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends; 
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and be it further


 
 


 






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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Karl Joachim Weintraub as an 
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expression of our sorrow for their loss.