You may not have heard of him, and you may not even care once we tell you about him, but Professor Emeritus J.W. Smit cared about you. The only known person to have taught all four Core classes (Art Hum, Music Hum, Lit Hum, and CC), the Nobility and Civility fixture shaped the Curriculum since he started teaching CC in the 1970s. Besides being an accomplished pianist and economist–and possessing perhaps Columbia’s best honorific, the Queen Wilhelmina Professor of History–Smit knew more about the history of the Core than perhaps any person living. And, according to an anonymous grieving tipster, Smit welcomed students to his apartment to shoot the breeze about options pricing in the sixties, or anything else one could think to talk about.

Smit died last week of a heart attack while on holiday in the Netherlands. Rest in peace, professor.