Cover photo for Mr. Ronald Hyman's Obituary
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Mr. Ronald Hyman

October 16, 1933 — March 10, 2021

Lawrenceville, NJ

Ronald T. Hyman: October 16, 1933 - March 10, 2021

Rutgers University Professor Emeritus Ronald T. Hyman, Esq. died on March 10, 2021 at the age of 87 from dementia-related complications.

Born in Chicago to Maurice and Matilda Hyman, Ronald Hyman graduated both public and Hebrew high school there before moving with his parents to Miami, Florida. Hyman graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A from the University of Miami in 1955. Shortly thereafter he earned his Master’s Degree in teaching from Vanderbilt University, as a Ford Foundation Fellow.

After spending several years as a public school teacher and starting a family with literary editor Suzanne K. Hyman, he earned his doctorate (Ed.D.) from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, as a World Book Fellow in Curriculum. Hyman then taught briefly at Queens College in Queens, NY before moving on to Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education in New Brunswick, NJ in 1966. He and Suzanne settled nearby in Highland Park, where they lived for over 30 years before retiring to Princeton, New Jersey.

Always at his desk, Ronald Hyman was a prolific writer, the author or editor of twenty-four books (some published in multiple languages including Arabic, German, Japanese, and Korean) and well over one hundred scholarly articles, chapters and monographs. But he was a teacher first, known equally for the open, interactive quality of the classrooms, workshops, and the dynamic simulation games he led, his dedication to students and their careers, and his exacting standards.

Over the course of a forty-two year career as a professor at Rutgers, Hyman had what amounted to two careers: He initially taught curriculum development and theory, as well as classroom management and leadership. His best-known work on these topics was Ways of Teaching (1970). In addition, during this period he also published Teaching: Vantage Points For Study, 2nd Edition (1974), and Strategic Questioning (1979), along with other articles and smaller volumes. Over time Professor Hyman’s focus shifted to secondary school supervision and administration and he published books that were widely read in the education sector including, Thinking Processes In The Classroom: Prospects and Programs (1985) and School Administrator’s Faculty Supervision Handbook (1986).

In the early 1980’s Hyman’s desire to write and teach more about some of the large and thornier issues facing society and how they played out in the field of education, led him to pursue his law degree at night at Rutgers Law School in Newark. He did this while continuing to work full-time as a professor during the day, earning his J.D. in 1986. Hyman then began the second half of his distinguished career, teaching and writing on multiple legal topics that intersected with the education realm. His work had a particular focus on ethics and the effects of a given issue on our broader society, such as the consequences of corporal punishment, death threats in schools, and the implications for students, and indeed the community at large, of requiring mandatory community service. His books included a pair of companion books: Corporal Punishment in Schools: Reading the Law and The Principal’s Decision: A Teaching Monograph on Corporal Punishment (1993), along with Mandatory Community Service in High School: The Legal Dimension (1999), Death Threats by students: The Law and its Implications (2006).

Ronald Hyman was also actively involved in many membership and service organization for educators and served as the Executive Director of the New Jersey School Development Council from 1995-2005, and served on the Board of the New Jersey Affiliate of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (NJASCD), among others. He was a member of the Executive Council of the Rutgers Chapter of the American Association of University Professors and in 2001 received the Miles Galvin Grievance Award for his long-term distinguished service as a volunteer counselor.

In his life outside of academia Hyman was busy. He wrote scores of scholarly articles (some in Hebrew) on the Hebrew Bible, for journals such as Jewish Bible Quarterly, Jewish Education News, Union Seminary Quarterly, Religious Education, and others. A strong believer in community service, Hyman volunteered for a number of organizations. Among others, he served as the Vice President of the Jewish Federation and President of the Board of Jewish Family Services, both in Middlesex County, New Jersey. He also served as President of the Board of Directors of the Highland Park, NJ Public Library.

An early convert to running as a way of life, Ronald Hyman began “jogging” in 1968 and did so for almost fifty years until his body no longer permitted it. When asked how he had the time to run five to six miles per day, six days a week while simultaneously attending law school and performing full-time faculty duties he stated, “I couldn’t do it if I didn’t run. Lots of thinking going on.”

Pre-deceased by his wife of 62 years, Suzanne K. Hyman, Ronald Hyman is survived by his son, Jonathan C. Hyman and his wife Gail Rubenfeld, daughter, Elana Hollo and her husband Juha, and daughter, Rachel Hyman. Hyman also leaves behind grandson Matti Hollo and his wife Ilana Weinstein, and granddaughters Jane Hyman, Naomi Hollo, and Ellie Hollo. Hyman is also pre-deceased by his brother, Paul Hyman, and survived by his brother Elmer Hyman.

Funeral Services Will Be on March 14th at noon over Zoom. For details, you can contact Jonathan Hyman at arthoops@verizon.net

Shiva will be private

Memorial donations may be made in Ron’s honor to:
HIAS: https://www.hias.org/
Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Greater Mercer County: https://www.jfcsonline.org/
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mr. Ronald Hyman, please visit our flower store.

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