Members of the Sinclair community have taken to social media and other platforms to mourn English faculty lecturer Professor Adrienne Cassel, who died in late July. Remembered as a loving and highly knowledgeable educator, her death marks the end of a stellar career that brought the professor’s trademark optimism to the many classrooms she served.
Speaking to The Clarion, Chairperson for Sinclair’s English Department Professor Kate Geiselman, said, “Adrienne was a wonderful, brilliant thinker. She was always trying something new in the classroom, was devoted to the environment, and really embedded that in her classes.”
“There is no replacing her,” Geiselman added.
Longtime friend and fellow Sinclair faculty member Professor Dean Leonard looked back on their three-decade long friendship with The Clarion. He described Professor Cassel as a fun-loving, inquisitive soul that will surely be missed by many across the state and beyond.
“We met at Wilberforce University back in the early 90s. We became fast friends. She was always very upbeat, a scholar, and academically oriented while also being fun-loving and kind,” he stated.
Leonard described Cassel as someone driven to help her students anyway she can and pass on vital knowledge that will serve them outside the classroom. Despite being highly accomplished academically, with Cassel holding a PhD, she was renowned for being down-to-earth and unpretentious.
“She always felt she had the best job in the world because she loved teaching, sharing knowledge, and her worldview with students,” Leonard added.
Long before climate change was in the mainstream news, Leonard remembers Cassel expressing concerns for the environment and striving to raise awareness in her own way. Cassel’s eco-consciousness extended into the classroom, where she successfully incorporated elements of ecological awareness into her lessons.
Leonard said, “She was always very giving of her time and resources, especially to those in need. She was very loving and caring of others. Any student that had her was lucky. I think she imparted that loving quality to her students which is part of her legacy,”
“She was very dignified and courageous, not just in how she battled her illness but courageous and dignified in her life. That was who she was,” he stated.
Cassel will be sorely missed by her family, friends, and students whose lives she brightened. Even in the end, as Leonard explained, Cassel’s dignity and courage left an example for the rest of us to follow.
Photographer
Andrew Higley, University of Cincinnati Magazine
Managing Editor
Ismael David