Irwin Edman

See also Wikipedia's article about "Irwin Edman".

Irwin Edman |CC 1917 PhD '20 was a philosopher who was instrumental in shaping the early Core Curriculum.

Edman was born in Morningside Heights and lived at home while attending Columbia College. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and as a graduate student was extremely popular as an instructor. Many considered his "Philosophy 3-4" course a "must-take".

He served as an early instructor of Contemporary Civilization and even wrote a book for use in the course. He was also one of the original instructors of General Honors, helped establish the Colloquium on Important Books in 1932 and helped plan Humanities A in 1935, teaching it for many years thereafter.

Edman became the mentor of a young Herman Wouk, who dedicated his first novel to him.