[INDOLOGY] In Memoriam: Professor Edwin Gerow (Oct. 16, 1931 - July 24, 2025)

[Frank F Conlon]

Dear Colleagues,
I am here cross-posting an obituary notice published on H-Asia
regarding the passing of Professor Edwin Gerow.

________________________________
In Memoriam: Professor Edwin Gerow
October 16, 1931 – July 24, 2025

My friend and one-time colleague, Professor Edwin Mahaffey Gerow, passed away on July 24, 2025 in Portland, Oregon.  In his lifetime he established himself as an outstanding scholar of Sanskrit and Indian poetics.  A measure of his stature could be glimpsed in the numerous tributes paid to him by other scholars’ contributions to the online Indology discussion list.
Gerow was celebrated for his wide-ranging, penetrating scholarship on Sanskrit poetics and philology as well as India’s philosophical and literary traditions. As noted by Robert P. Goldman of UC Berkeley, he was “another towering Sanskrit scholar of his generation” whose exacting standards enlivened rigorous study and intellectual curiosity.
Colleagues and former students have recalled his demanding precision in the classroom—yet matched by a generosity of spirit and willingness to push beyond disciplinary boundaries. Will Tuladhar‑Douglas shared how Gerow’s mentorship inspired his long pursuit of Sanskrit, anthropology, and Buddhist studies; he described Gerow’s “ruthless exactitude” balanced with stretching far in pursuit of enquiry.
Edwin’s scholarly path might be said to have been unconventional.  He was born in Akron, Ohio, to Adolphus Denton Gerow and Alice Corrinne Gerow (nee Mahafey).  His father was a long-term employee of the Pennsylvania Railroad.  His mother was the daughter of a mail carrier in Mount Vernon, Ohio.  The Gerows had previously had one son who had died at a young age before Edwin’s birth.  The family experienced further tragedy when Adolphus Gerow died a few days before Edwin’s second birthday.  Edwin grew up with his widowed mother in the Akron suburb of Cuyahoga Falls, attending its public schools. While in high school he was active in its musical programs as a member of the A Cappella Choir and a featured singer in “The Boy’s Quartette.” (Many years later he returned to music, taking up the study of the cello.)
From this somewhat modest background, following graduation from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1949, he made an academic leap, gaining admission to  the Robert Hutchins College of the University of Chicago.  The Hutchins College offered a broad “core curriculum” centered on the Great Books of Western Civilization.  Student achievement was measured by examination, a process through which Edwin advanced at an accelerated pace.  Apart from his mastery of the curriculum, perhaps harkening to his Huguenot ancestral heritage, he also began serious study of French language and literature.  He stayed on a further year studying Sanskrit before sailing to France where he spent two years at the Université  de Paris studying French and Philosophy; in 1959 he would return to further study in Paris under the tutelage of the eminent Sanskrit scholar Louis Renou.  Back in Chicago, Edwin completed his Ph.D., producing a dissertation that evolved into his masterpiece A Glossary of Indian Figures of Speech, [Publications in Near and Middle East Studies, Columbia University, series A, vol. xvi]: (The Hague: Mouton & Co. 1971.)
In over sixty years, Edwin published over 130 articles, chapters and reviews and co-edited a number of collective volumes.  He co-edited [with Edward C. Dimock, Jr., and J.A.B. van Buitenen], The Literatures of India, an Introduction. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974). Other major contributions were his  Indian Poetics. [Vol. V, fasc. 3 of A History of Indian Literature, ed. Jan Gonda] (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. 1977) and The jewel-necklace of argument : (the Vādaratnāvali of Viṣṇudāsācārya) (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1990), of which the online resource goodreads.com commented “Gerow not only translates the text, but also aims to represent the entire relevant thought of Visnudasa. The result is a Cook’s Tour of medieval Indian intellectuality as well as an accurate representation of Visnudasa’s argument.”  Another masterful publication was Edwin’s editing and translation--in collaboration with H. V. Nagaraja Rao—of The Vṛttivārttika or commentary on the functions of words of Appaya Dīkṣita (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 2001.) His breadth of learning and capacity for disciplined writing enabled him also to serve as Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Oriental Society from 1988 to 2000.
Edwin’s teaching career commenced as an Assistant Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Rochester, while also visiting as a lecturer at Columbia.  In 1964 he joined the faculty of the University of Washington as Assistant Professor of Sanskrit and Indic Literature, promoted to Associate Professor in 1967.  He was serving as Chairman of the South Asian Studies Program when I first arrived in Seattle, and proved to be a hospitable source of welcome support.  It was at that time I think I glimpsed the secret to his prodigious academic production.  When he was working he worked diligently, and when time came to relax—he fully did so.  I have fond memories of hikes in the Cascades and Mount Rainier National Park with Ed and his sons and, sometimes, our colleague Paul Brass.  When we were in nature he was fully engaged in nature.  My students also benefitted from Edwin’s initiative in inviting Pandit H. V. Nagaraja Rao from the Mysore Sanskrit College to Seattle to pursue  western linguistics training. This visitor graciously took time from his studies to share recitations of Vedic and epic stanzas in my classes.
In 1973, Edwin left Seattle to take up the Frank L. Sulzberger Professorship of Civilizations in the College at the University of Chicago and as Professor of Sanskrit. There he was deeply involved with the new Humanities program in Civilizational Studies.
Fresh opportunities beckoned in 1985 when he and Cheryl Chevis relocated to Portland, Oregon. Reed College invited him to serve as a visiting professor of Humanities, and in 1989 formally offered  him appointment as Professor of  Religion and Humanities—a position he held until retirement in 1997. At Reed he inspired a cohort of undergraduate students to advance to graduate studies and distinguished academic careers. After retirement he continued to publish extensively nearly twenty articles and reviews.
Edwin’s scholarly production has extended beyond his life.  His widow Cheryl Chevis shared that his editor had written to inform her that "his ultimate magnum opus, the French translation of Nāgeśa’s  Paramalaghumañjuṣā, will appear as the next Bulletin d'Etudes indiennes (BEI 37), before the end of December 2025.” I am informed that this marks the first complete translation of this important text on semantics and the philosophy of knowledge in any Western language. Finally, there also will be an essay published in a volume in honor of Lyne Bonsat-Boudin that will appear sometime in the near future.
Edwin was very much at home in Sanskrit and French—he frequently collaborated with French colleagues and readily published in their language.  Silvia D’Intino of the CNRS Paris wrote of him : “Always ready to generously help students and
 colleagues, I will remember him for his marvellous esprit de
finesse!! And his irresistible accent, and smile while saying ‘au revoir.’”
Edwin’s influence was acknowledged through the Festschrift published in his honor—Ācāryasamarpaṇam: Studies in Honor of Edwin Gerow (International Journal of Hindu Studies, 2015)—marking a scholar whose writing and teaching shaped numerous fields,  His meticulous approach to Sanskrit grammar, poetics and philology made him a highly effective teacher, willing to mentor his students. The horizons of his learning were extraordinarily broad—a range frequently observed  in his elegant essays and reviews.
Edwin was honored by election to President of the American Oriental Society, 2001-2002; elected Honorary Member of the Société Asiatique (Paris) in 2007 and awarded Doctorat honoris causa, by the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Section V (“Religious Sciences”) in 2008.
Edwin Gerow’s life was marked by a relentless pursuit of precision, a deep respect for linguistic artistry and a constant love of scholarship.  He  leaves behind an inspiring legacy in the academic communities at Reed College, the University of Chicago, the University of Washington and beyond, where his influence carried students from early stages into careers in Indology, anthropology, philosophy, and Buddhist studies  He is survived by his wife Cheryl Ann Chevis, his sons Aaron and Matthew and grandson Ian.

Edwin’s life will ultimately be measured not only by his own  scholarly accomplishments, but by the many benefits he brought to the world in talent, achievement and strength. His was a life lived well, indeed.
Frank F. Conlon
Professor emeritus
History, South Asian Studies and
     Comparative Religion
University of Washington

Seattle, WA
1 September 2025
I wish to acknowledge the valuable  assistance of
Cheryl Chevis and Dr. Lyne Bonsat-Boudin.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20250901/4c5c6cd4/attachment.htm>