Robert "Bob" B. Hill, PhD

I graduated from Boys High School in Brooklyn and entered the City College of New York in September 1956. I chose CCNY since it had a very good electrical engineering school, but the professor who had the greatest impact on me was Dr. Lawrence Podell, who was not an engineer! Professor Podell taught history to engineering students. I was fascinated by his class since he devoted much of his lectures to racial issues, especially about controversies around the Supreme Court school desegregation in 1954. Toward the end of the class, I told Dr. Podell that I wanted to switch to his field. He said that he was a sociology professor and helped me to begin my sociology classes on CCNY's South Campus. He took me under his wing and became my mentor. Although he was a rigorous instructor, I enjoyed all of his classes! I also became the head of the NAACP chapter at CCNY. We raised funds to support the various Freedom Riders, who were students going from the North to fight segregation in the South. One of my most memorable experiences was inviting Minister Malcolm X to speak on our campus. Since he was so controversial at the time, CCNY was one of the few colleges to invite him to speak on its campus; however, CCNY had a very liberal president, Dr. Buell Gallagher, who told me that I would have to also invite someone else to debate him. Mr. Herbert Wright, the national director of the NAACP College Chapters agreed to debate the minister. The debate took place in the spring of 1961 in CCNY's Great Hall, which was filled to capacity with Harlem residents as well as CCNY students. This was a momentous occasion. Upon graduating with honors in sociology, Professor Podell recommended that I attend Columbia University for my doctoral studies. My time at CCNY was invaluable! I specialized in social research as a result of my experience there. I sincerely believe that CCNY gave me a solid foundation for my later achievements; thus, it will always have very lasting memories for me!