Samson O.A. “Sam” Ullmann, professor of English emeritus, died Oct. 11, 2009, at his home at 1148 Rugby Road, Schenectady. He was 87.
A specialist in Victorian literature and modern drama, he taught at Union from 1957 to 1992.
A native of New York City, he went on to earn an A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, and a master’s degree from Stanford University.
His edition of Sir Leslie Stephen's volume of essays, Men, Books, and Mountains, was published by Hogarth Press and the University of Minnesota Press in 1956. In 1989, the University of Michigan Press published his edition of The Yale Manuscript: Matthew Arnold, drawn from a collection of Arnold's writings held in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University. Rossetti, Stillman, and the Union College "Willowwood" manuscripts: with two previously unpublished drawings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti appeared from the Friends of the Union College Library in 1985.
Prof. Ullmann split the year between his home on Rugby Road and an apartment he kept in London. Between November and March, he might average three or four plays a week at London’s West End, according to Prof. Josef Schmee, a colleague and neighbor.
Prof. Ullmann regularly attended campus plays and the Union College Concert Series. He also recently sponsored a series of works by local playwrights at Proctor’s Theater.
Funeral arrangements are pending.