Retired professor dies at home

Samuel Preus, retired Halls Professor in the religious studies department, died Jan. 11 at his home in St. Paul, Minn. Funeral services were held Monday in St. Paul.\nPreus began his career at IU in 1973. A specialist in the history of biblical interpretation, the Reformation and modern European intellectual history, Preus taught a range of classes, from introductory to graduate levels. He served as the department's director of graduate studies and was one of the creators of the department's doctoral program. \nPreus wrote four books. His most recent, "Spinoza and the Irrelevance of Biblical Authority," will be published this spring. \n"I worked with Sam Preus as a colleague in the religious studies department at IU for almost 30 years," Professor Emeritus James Ackerman said. "We came to IU within two years of each other, and our friendship started to grow and deepen from the first day we met. \n"How often the lunches we had together when we shared our mutual passion and our ongoing research on the history of Biblical interpretation; how often he laid me low on the racquetball court, or the tennis court, or called my bluff in poker. They are countless, and they will remain treasured memories." \nPreus graduated with a Doctorate of Theology from Harvard University in 1967, and taught at Harvard Divinity School before coming to IU in 1973.\n"Sam Preus is an academic's academic -- the one whose eyes would light up whenever I would ask him about his most recent research; also the one who would ask the telling questions whenever friends and colleagues shared their work with him," said Ackerman. "Sam's office was located right next to the main departmental office, his door always open -- and he would always be the last colleague to leave the building every afternoon." \n"… Our hearts go out to all the Preus family: to Bette Rae, Karin and Michael, who will miss this giant of a man far more than we can even begin to imagine"