Gene Lane: Commitment to Scholarship, Teaching, and Community

I have known Gene Lane since 1974 when I began a doctoral program in Classics and Classical Archaeology at the University of Missouri. For many of us Gene has always epitomized the quintessential graduate instructor. No one seemed to know the primary and secondary source material better than he did; he was not only profoundly engaged in his own professional projects but also excited and intrigued by the projects and papers of each of his students; and he always maintained an unquenchable curiosity for the ancient world in all its manifestations. As all good graduate instructors, Gene helped his students become more critical and discerning evaluators, and most of us soon discovered that much of what we thought we knew was based on questionable assumptions and shaky evidence. Whatever the course was, it seemed like we first began by dismantling all that we thought we knew and ended with reconstructing the world of our course on the basis of what we actually knew and on assumptions whose validity we could defend. On many occasions we came away with the important recognition that our understanding of the world of antiquity is often based on the fragile and incomplete record of evidence and a long trail of assumptions and contentions that are accorded more weight than they deserve. In essence, Gene taught us to be demanding of our evidence, distrustful of longstanding generalizations, and always open to re-evaluating our views on the ancient world.

Gene’s own professional interests and areas of expertise have always been wide-ranging, e.g. ancient religion, historical linguistics, numismatics. Although he usually describes himself as a Hellenist, he has always seemed to be equally comfortable linguistically and culturally with both the Latin and Greek world. In turn, Gene most frequently has returned to the places and times of the Roman empire where the blend of Latin and Greek is so evident in terms of language, literature, religious practice, and material culture. The world of the second sophistic particularly comes to mind.

Gene’s knowledge of and love for modern Greece (actually for Greece of all periods) has also had a defining effect on his professional and personal life and by extension on the lives of his students. Among other things Gene inspired many of his students to see the ancient world in a fuller cultural and historical context. In turn, Gene’s own enthusiasm for Greece has led many of his students to travel, study, and even live there for extended periods of time. As always Gene is eager to share details of recent trips to Greece and discuss his own plans and those of others for future travel there.

In addition to his commitment and dedication as a scholar, Gene has also devoted his time and energy to a great number of community and social issues. He has especially been interested in environmental issues and has been both a vocal and active supporter of the development of the Katy Trail (a rails to trails initiative) and a local recycling program involving returnable beverage containers. His tireless commitment and persuasive action has done much to better Columbia and the entire mid-Missouri area.

Throughout his life and professional career Gene has been a person who feels strongly about his work and his causes and demonstrates his sentiments by his actions. Through this manifestation of personal integrity and social and professional commitment Gene has made and continues to make profoundly positive contributions to his friends, colleagues, community, and students.