After teaching at Northwestern for more than 40 years, sociology Prof. Charlie Moskos, one of the preeminent military sociologists in the United States and a popular professor among students, said he does not plan to return to teaching due to health reasons.
“It’s hard to think of a better life, having taught since 1966 at a great university like Northwestern with such super students, including my own son,” he said. “It’s almost the perfect life to be a professor at Northwestern.”
Moskos, who is famous for crafting the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” policy on homosexuals serving in the military, taught every Fall Quarter after retiring in 2003. He took Fall 2006 off due to complications from prostate cancer, but resumed teaching last fall. But his health worsened in January, and Moskos said he is now undergoing treatment several times a week.
“My health is not the greatest,” he said. “I don’t have any plans to continue teaching, which is sad because I really enjoy teaching the Northwestern students.”
Sociology Prof. Gary Fine, who worked with Moskos for about 10 years, said students would tell each other to sign up for Moskos’ Introduction to Sociology class to complete their NU experience.
Moskos has taught thousands of students basic sociology principles in such an “engaging way and with a sense of caring and charisma that students just loved him,” Fine said. “He was a man who was deeply involved in a number of public issues and was one of the people at this university who really changed American life.”
Moskos said he knew he wanted to become a professor while an undergraduate at Princeton University. He continued to teach while conducting ongoing research and consultation for military officials.
Bernard Beck, a friend of Moskos’ and a professor emeritus who started at NU in 1965, said he will remember the conversations and jokes the two had while working in the sociology department.
“I’ll miss very much the warmth and the concern he had for everybody he dealt with and (his) genuine curiosity to know about the people he was dealing with,” Beck said. “There’s no explanation other than he’s a burning candle in his own distinctive way.”
Weinberg senior Laura Retson, who took Introduction to Sociology, said Moskos is one of her favorite professors because he is able to relate to his students despite their age gap – Moskos is turning 74 on Tuesday.
“He really found a way to connect with students even though they could be more than one generation removed from him,” Retson said. “He’s not here for the prestige or to do his own thing like research.”
Communication senior Aaron Weissman, who also took Introduction to Sociology, said Moskos will be missed by NU students and faculty members because of his ability to teach a 600-person lecture with a personal touch.
“He has an outgoing personality and is fun-loving in an academic way that it was so engaging to watch him, because he was clearly having so much fun while teaching us,” he said. “He’s such an engaging face of the sociology department that it’s sad people won’t be able to have that connection with him.”
