Dr. Julius Paul
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Dr. Julius Paul professor emeritus Society lost a unique, brilliant, and gentle, caring man on September 26th, 2008 when Dr. Julius Paul, 82, of Fredonia, died at the Chautauqua County Home. A loving husband of 56 years
to Laura, beloved father, grandfather, friend to many and mentor of countless
more, Julius touched andm shaped lives, in incalculable ways.
Julius was born in 1926 in Lakewood, Ohio to Jacob and Gertrude Paul, hard
working Russian Jewish immigrants who came to the United States in search of the freedom they were denied in their homeland. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Ohio State University in 1954; a B.A. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 1947; with additional graduate studies at the University of Hawaii, Harvard University, and the University of Denver Russian Institute. He taught at many universities, including Ohio State University, Kenyon College, Southern Illinois University, Wayne State
University, and most recently at SUNY Fredonia from which he retired in 1992 as professor emeritus of political science. Prior to moving to Fredonia in 1970, he was a research political scientist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Julius specialized in Public Law and Jurisprudence, Medical Ethics, and Science and Public Policy with an emphasis on the rights of the individual. His early work was devoted to an examination of American legal realism, particularly the work of Jerome Frank and its contribution to contemporary
American jurisprudence. His book, The Legal Realism of Jerome N. Frank: A Study of Fact-Skepticism and the Judicial Process, was published in 1959. His seminal research in eugenics, begun in 1959 and completed in the early 1970s, provided the most comprehensive data on the subject available,
offering insight into the flawed public policies allowing state sanctioned sterili-
zations. Eugenics scholars continue to use his "timeless" data, and some
states have only recently publicly apologized for their past policies. In 1972-73 he was the first faculty member at SUNY Fredonia to have
received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, on the subject, "Bodily Privacy and Public Policy: Consent and the Problem of Personal Freedom." On this and other ethical matters, Dr. Paul was pub-
lished in numerous journals including: U.S. Medicine, American Journal of Orthop-sychiatry, Law & Society Review, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, West Virginia Law Review, Dickinson Law Review, and the Vanderbilt Law Review, to name a few. He served as a consultant
to the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Criminology, the George Washington
University National Law Center; the National Institute of Child Health and Hu-
man Development; the National Science Foundation, Office of ntergovernmental Science Programs; Southern Poverty Law Center; U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Institutions and Facil-ities; American Civil Liberties Union, Women's Rights Project; and the national Rights Welfare Organization.Julius' commitment to human rights extended beyond the classroom, publications and committee work. He was a civil rights activist in the early 1950s working to desegregate diners and bars in Columbus, Ohio; a
staunch opponent of the Viet Nam War and participant in local peace vigils;
and an advocate for individuals with mental illness, appointed by the Governor to the Board of Visitors of Gowanda Psychiatric Center. He was an active Democrat his entire life, participating in presidential campaigns and locally, in the Fredonia Pomfret Democratic Committee. Julius loved living in Fredonia and embraced its many academic and cultural offerings. He was a 20-year
member of the Festival Chorus, sang with the Catch Club, was active in program planning for the Adams Art Gallery, participated in local Holocaust memorial services, was a pre-law advisor at SUNY Fredonia, and was
a member of the Unitarian church. Julius met his adored wife, Laura Rankin Paul, while they were both attending Ohio State University. A sports fanatic, he proposed to her in the middle of a double header at Yankee Stadium. They were married in Columbus, Ohio in 1952. A lifelong Ohio State Buckeye fan, he was also an avid Buffalo Bills, Sabres, and Mount Union fan. He is survived by his wife Laura; his sons Derrick, Aaron and Brian; his daughters Sara and Allegra; grandsons Jesse, Noah, Miles and Jacob; his brother Louis of Beverly Hills, CA; and numerous nieces and nephews. One could always count
on stimulating conversation from Julius on a multitude of issues, with his broad knowledge and keen interest in so many areas. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, former students and colleagues.
Julius requested that his remains be donated for medical research. A community memorial service will be held at a date to be announced by
the family. Those wishing to remember Julius in a special way can consider performing random acts of kindness as he was want to do, or can support a program of their choice that promotes individual rights.And to Dad, forever in our hearts, "Go Buckeyes!"




