Professor at BGSU was an editor of science journal

5/17/2007

BOWLING GREEN - Robert C. Romans, 69, an associate professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University, died of a heart attack on Friday at his home in Superior, Wis.

Mr. Romans retired in 1994 after 19 years as an associate professor of biological sciences at BGSU, where he was hired as an assistant professor in 1969.

He was also an assistant chairman of undergraduate affairs at the BGSU department of biological sciences from 1985 to 1992.

A former assistant editor of the Ohio Journal of Science, he also authored laboratory manuals and research articles and edited scientific publications.

Mr. Romans' awards at BGSU included a 1973 Distinguished Teacher of Natural Sciences Award, a 1985 Master Teacher Award, and two Faculty Excellence Awards, which he received from BGSU's college of arts and sciences in the 1980s.

"He had an ability to teach biology on a common level so that people would leave his class with some appreciation of biology and the world that we live in," his wife of 43 years, Jean M. Romans, said.

His class, Introduction to Biology, was one of the most popular with students, Mrs. Romans said.

A native of Hawthorne, Wis., Mr. Romans graduated in 1956 from Superior Central High School in Superior.

He later received a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in education, both from University of Wisconsin-Superior, and a doctorate degree in biology from Arizona State University.

Surviving are his wife, Jean, son, Bradley, and sister, Marjorie Nelson.

A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Superior, where visitation will take place after 10 a.m. tomorrow. Arrangements are by the Downs Funeral Home, Superior.

The family suggests tributes to the Robert C. Romans Biological Sciences Scholarship at BGSU.