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The Daily Tar Heel

Unpretentious. Kind. Personable. Visionary. Incredibly intelligent.

Professor Barry Margolin was remembered fondly in a memorial service Wednesday afternoon, more than a year after his death, at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. These words were the common thread that connected the stories people shared.

After more than a decade of declining health, Margolin died on Jan. 28, 2009. He was 66.

“Barry was a visionary,” said William Kalsbeek, professor of biostatistics. “He had the ability to think creatively.”

As chairman of the Department of Biostatistics, Margolin was remembered for his open-door policy with students and faculty and his continual advocacy for the needs of the department.

Margolin’s selflessness topped the list of reasons he was selected as chairman of the biostatistics department in 1987.

“Barry did not negotiate for himself,” said Michel Ibrahim, professor emeritus in the department of epidemiology. “He negotiated amenities for the department.”

As chairman, Margolin worked to increase diversity within the program and to retain high-quality faculty.

“He was serious about diversity in his department,” said Lloyd Edwards, associate professor of biostatistics, a black professor who Margolin recruited.

Margolin’s wife, Connie, said he had an initiative to nurture prospective minority students over the summer.

Margolin created diversity of gender, religion, ethnicity and nationality in the faculty he recruited to the department.

In working to retain faculty in the department, Margolin often played the part of middle-man in negotiations with the University.

Pranab Sen, the Cary Boshamer distinguished professor of biostatistics, recalled Margolin’s efforts in keeping him from taking a job with The Ohio State University.

“I would have been lost in the Midwest snow and ice if Barry would not have rescued me,” Sen said.

Others recalled Margolin’s nonprofessional achievements, notably his devotion to his friends and family, which also includes a daughter, Lauren.

Susan and Jonas Ellenberg, long-time friends of Margolin’s family and faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania, recalled trips in graduate school and celebrating New Year’s Eve together as families for many years.

Susan Ellenberg also recalled his spirit as he dealt with Celiac Disease, the illness that ultimately led to his death.

“I was always amazed by his positive outlook,” she said. “I never saw him angry or resentful. He accepted what came to him with amazing grace and a twinkle in his eye.”



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.

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