Howie Schein

Howie Schein, a native Chicagoan, took a circuitous educational path to Champaign-Urbana.  First, he studied at Grinnell College, receiving his bachelor's degree in biology in 1966.  Then, he briefly studied at the University of Illinois, before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, for his master’s degree in zoology.  After graduating in 1968, he returned to Champaign-Urbana and U of I to pursue a PhD, also in Zoology, and graduated with his doctorate in 1974.

He taught classes as a TA for a couple of years, and then in 1976 a mentor encouraged him to apply for the Unit One Living-Learning Community’s open Associate Director position.  He got the job and absolutely thrived there, becoming the director in practice, if not in title, soon after, and then officially getting the top job in 1978.

For the next 30 years, he was a fixture at Allen Hall and a vital part of the community’s continued success into the 21st century.  Modeling Unit One after Grinnell, his undergraduate alma mater, he fostered a small liberal arts school environment inside a rapidly growing Big Ten university.  Under his leadership, countless students enjoyed the community and opportunities that living in Allen and Unit One offered, experiences they remembered fondly years later.  Howie Schein retired from Allen Hall in 2008 but remains active in the Champaign-Urbana community.