The University of Hartford community remembers Leo Rockas, Professor Emeritus of English, who was a member of the University faculty from 1971 to 2001.
For three decades, Leo was one of the stalwarts of the English faculty—a professor who cared deeply about the quality of his students’ work and about the students themselves. He was a stickler for standards, but those high expectations were accompanied by kindness, encouragement, and a genuine commitment to helping students succeed.
“What I remember the most was his caring for and his teaching of our students,” recalls former Director of Harrison Libraries Randi Ashton-Pritting. “As a professor, author, and avid gardener, he'll be known especially as a teacher—because he taught from the heart.”
That combination of rigor and compassion was central to Leo’s impact at the University. He believed in the importance of literature, writing, and intellectual curiosity. For the many students who passed through his classroom, his influence extended beyond the lessons of a particular course.
Leo was also a scholar and author whose intellectual curiosity continued throughout his life. His books and articles explored literature, rhetoric, and writing, and in his later years he devoted considerable attention to Jane Austen and Shakespeare. His work on Austen appeared in Persuasions, the journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and he continued to write fiction, plays, and literary adaptations after his retirement from the University.
The University of Hartford is grateful for the 30 years Leo Rockas gave to the campus community and for the generations of students whose lives he touched. His legacy lives on in the standards he upheld, the curiosity he encouraged, and, most importantly, the students he cared for and taught.
Services
Friends may call Friday, August 21, from 5–8 p.m. at Anthony’s Funeral Home, 2305 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, N.Y. Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 22, at 11 a.m. at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, 962 East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y. Burial will follow at White Haven Memorial Park, 210 Marsh Road, Pittsford, N.Y.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Red Cross.