Recently retired University professor Albert Leong died Aug. 31 of pancreatic cancer.
Leong, who was 66, taught Russian language, culture and literature at the University from 1966 until 2001, and was also the director of the Russian and East European Studies Center and head of the Russian department.
Professor Alan Kimball, who knew the man for 35 years, said Leong was responsible both for creating a Russian department that stood apart from the other Slavic language programs and for co-founding the EESC.
Kimball said Leong had a definitive personality.
“He spoke very softly, and yet he was extremely stubborn when it came to pursuing the right goal,” Kimball said. “One of the biggest things about him that I remember was his optimism.”
Kimball added that Leong could be incredibly convincing.
Leong persuaded acclaimed Russian professors and experts, such as famous 20th-century writer Andrei Sinyavsky, to visit and speak at the University.
Leong, a writer himself, penned “Centaur: The Life and Art of Ernst Neizvestny” under contract with Paragon House Publishers.
He was born in Portland to Harry and Ruby Leong on Dec. 10, 1935. He served in the Army from 1954 to 1962, and worked at the Army hospital in Fort Chaffee, Ark., from 1957 to 1966 as a psychiatric social worker and a neuropsychiatric technician.
He received all three of his degrees from the University of Chicago. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Russian language in 1961, a master’s in Slavic languages in 1966 and a doctorate in Slavic languages and literature in 1970.
Leong married Annette Duke in 1983 in Eugene.
Family members said he was a quiet and gentle man.
“My father was a very peaceful presence in my life,” daughter Davina Leong said. “I feel fortunate to have spent so much time with him in my adult years.
“My father was a very life-affirming person,” she said. “I’m just concentrating on the good things.”
She said she used to meet her father on campus every day for lunch during his years as a professor.
Albert Leong’s memorial service was held Sept. 8 at England’s Eugene Memorial Chapel.
“Dad, wherever you are, you’ll always be with me deep in my heart,” daughter Anna Jacobson-Leong said in a speech at the service.
“I love you. May you go in peace.”
He is survived by his wife; two daughters, Anna Jacobson-Leong of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Davina Leong of Eugene; two sons, Adam and Alexander, both of Pleasant Hill; and two brothers, David of Chicago and George of Beaverton.