Leslie Elizabeth Hornig, 1957-2012

Many who have come to our blog over time didn't know Leslie beyond their particular point of contact, only knew me, or simply stumbled across something they found meaningful.

What follows is the obituary I prepared for Leslie; it has been submitted to the Chicago Tribune, the Providence Journal and the Hyde Park Herald.  The photo is courtesy of Picture Day, the company that takes school photos for the University of Chicago Lab Schools, which gave permission to use this stunning shot.

Leslie Hornig came late to teaching, but clearly it was her calling.  Students who passed through her fourth-grade science classroom at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools treasured learning chemistry from Pancake Day, studying adaptation by creating their own unique creatures, and caring for the classroom rats.

Ms. Hornig had worked with rats as a graduate student, and drove around Chicago’s Hyde Park in a van with the license plate RAT PUP 1.  She delighted in showing students how affectionate and responsive the animals could be, taking pride in the many students (girls in particular) who overcame fear and helped her care for the rats.

Ms. Hornig died in Chicago on April 18, less than a year after being diagnosed with metastatic endometrial cancer. She was 54.

She moved from Washington, DC, in 1988 to pursue a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago and received her degree in 1995.  Following three years of post-doctoral research in genetics, she decided to leave academia and share her love of science with younger learners at the Lab Schools, where she taught from 1998 to 2011.

“Leslie was the first to admit that the Lab Schools took a chance on her.  Her primary experience at the time was coaching youth soccer and having a daughter who’d just completed fourth grade,” recalled her husband, David Kleeman.  “She instantly became intrigued by learning and developmental differences, though, and found great mentors who helped her become an outstanding child-centered teacher.”  She organized discussions among her colleagues around topics like learning and the brain, and positive discipline.

David Derbes, chair of Lab's Science Department, said, "How often does a person with Leslie's training--Harvard undergraduate, Chicago doctorate in biology--become a lower school teacher? And of these few, how many love kids and can reach them so well? We were incredibly lucky to have had her as long as we did. She was a wonderful colleague, not least because she would so often challenge the majority viewpoint."

Ms. Hornig also exercised her passion for learning as a trustee of Hyde Park’s Ancona School, which her daughters attended from pre-school through eighth grade.  Head of School Bonnie Wishne recalled that “Leslie loved Ancona’s intimate, individualized learning community but, never one to pull a punch, she had many astute ‘suggestions’ for how we might be a better school. It wasn’t just talk; as a parent and trustee, she rolled up her sleeves and pitched in.  When she became a teacher, she often walked over at the end of the day just to sit and sort out teaching or learning issues.  She was always striving to be a better champion of children.”

Ms. Hornig was born to science. Her father, a chemist, was science adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson before becoming President of Brown University.  Her mother, Lilli, a chemistry professor as well, advocated for bringing more women into the sciences. Residents of Providence and Little Compton, RI, both worked on the Manhattan Project.

It was no surprise, then, that Ms. Hornig pursued a career in education and science.  After graduating from Harvard College in 1980, she became a program officer at the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) at the US Department of Education.

Later, as a public affairs specialist at the National Zoo in Washington, she produced public seminars on animal behavior.  “Leslie went to graduate school late by the standards of the time,” Kleeman noted. “She probably wouldn’t have gone back at all, though, had she not become captivated by the work of her future advisor during one of the Zoo seminars.”

Before returning to school, Ms. Hornig spent two years working at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, producing the National Forum for School Science, a forward-looking effort to improve teaching quality.  She co-authored three editions of the Forum’s report and recommendations, “This Year in School Science.”

“Our older daughter was born at almost the exact moment the 1987 forum concluded,” her husband remembered.  “She went into labor as the conference started, and insisted on introducing the lunch speaker before heading to the hospital.  It was a pretty perfect metaphor.”

Hyde Park residents knew Ms. Hornig from her annual turn as the Mayor’s wife in the Hyde Park School of Dance Nutcracker, alongside her dancing daughters and her husband, who played Herr Drosselmeyer.

In addition to her husband, parents and three siblings, Ms. Hornig is survived by two daughters:  Caroline, 24, is a therapist for children with autism near Boston; Emily, 20, is a sophomore at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA.
 
A memorial service will be held at a date and time to be announced.

The family asks that contributions in Leslie Hornig’s memory be sent either to The Ancona School, 4770 South Dorchester Ave., Chicago, IL 60615, or to the Hyde Park School of Dance, 5650 South Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL 60637.