University Mourns Longtime UT Dallas Lecturer Vincent Cirillo
Dr. Vincent Cirillo, a longtime senior lecturer at UT Dallas, died recently at the age of 92.
A memorial service for Cirillo will be held Saturday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel at Legacy Town Center in Plano.
Cirillo came to UT Dallas in 1992 after retiring from Stony Brook University in New York, where he taught, led research and served as chairman of the biochemistry department.
For 24 years, Cirillo taught lab and lecture classes in the UT Dallas Department of Biological Sciences. He also developed a science curriculum project for local elementary schools. Cirillo had a strong interest in the history of molecular biology, which he taught as a literature-based, upper-level class where students discussed classical papers from the field.
Cirillo last taught in fall 2016 and, according to colleagues, he was pleased to have exceeded his ambition to teach at the age of 90.
“Vince Cirillo was a delightful colleague, charming and humorous, and deeply knowledgeable in multiple areas,” said Dr. Stephen Spiro, head of the Department of Biological Sciences. “He was never shy to express an opinion but was unfailingly courteous and respectful. As a friend and colleague, Vince was supportive and engaging, and he will be greatly missed.”
Cirillo was a passionate advocate for social justice. He and his wife, Lilli, played an active role in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and participated in national and local efforts to end segregation and discrimination. He attended the March on Washington in 1963 and considered it one of the most moving and meaningful experiences of his life.
Cirillo and his wife also were supporters of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at UT Dallas.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Buffalo and his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining Stony Brook, Cirillo was an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, a research scientist with Anheuser-Bush, and an associate professor at the School of Medicine at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
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