(Editor’s note: The following tribute to Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Genetics Herman E. Brockman was written by one of his Ph.D. students, David M. DeMarini ’72, M.S. ’74, Ph.D. ’80, a genetic toxicologist retired from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.)

April 8, 2025, saw the passing of Dr. Herman E. Brockman, 90, who was among the first faculty hired at Illinois State Normal University in 1963 to initiate the first Ph.D. program at the University, which was in Biological Sciences. Herman leaves behind a large family and his remarkable spouse of nearly 69 years, Marlene (Castiglia) Brockman. Learn more from his obituary and an interview for Illinois State’s Oral History Project.

Herman’s legacy also extends to the thousands of students to whom he taught genetics at Illinois State, along with 13 Ph.D., 22 master’s, and as many as 100 undergraduate students who trained in his laboratory. We established a seminar series in his name when he retired in 1998.

Herman was devoted to his family and students, scholarship, teaching, and stewardship of his farm in Congerville; and he showed kindness and respect for all. These remarkable traits were on full display the first time I encountered Herman in his genetics course in the spring of 1972. After his first lecture, I was smitten with the topic of genetics and with him as a teacher and scholar. He had even provided a detailed outline of his lecture, something I had never seen in nearly four years at Illinois State. 

Thousands of students experienced the same things, including two of my brothers, Tom and Doug, making us the only siblings Herman taught during his 35-year career at Illinois State. Doug also worked in Herman’s lab, making us the only siblings to have done research with Herman. Doug went on to get a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin, and Tom obtained an M.D. from Northwestern University. We were all influenced by Herman.

Completing my master’s degree with Herman instilled in me a great passion for genetic toxicology, which was Herman’s scientific specialty. He was a charter member of the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS), which is the scientific home for that field. Three of Herman’s Ph.D. students (David Brusick, Jim Gentile, and I), along with Michael Plewa, who was a Ph.D. student of David Weber’s, became presidents of EMGS. We were all influenced by Herman.    

After completing a master’s degree, I worked at the Department of Agriculture laboratory in Peoria for one-and-a-half years, and while there, I joined Herman and his students to attend the EMGS meeting in Atlanta in March 1976. During one of the nightly rounds of discussions in a bar, I drunkenly fell off a barstool. Herman asked if I was OK and then followed quickly to ask if I would return to his lab for the Ph.D. He said he knew that ISU did not (yet) allow students to receive all three degrees from the University, but he would petition the administration for special permission.

I was drunk and dazed but managed to have the good sense to say, “yes.” It was the most impactful “yes” I ever said, and it changed the course of my life for the next 50 years. Herman made it possible for me to continue working with him and engaging in my passion, launching me into an international professional life a Hollywood scriptwriter could not have created. I will always be grateful to him for making such an extraordinary effort to bring me back to his lab.

Herman’s mentorship launched many of his students into the stratosphere of their respective careers, so much so, that five of us— Felissa Lashley, Tong-man Ong, Brusick, Gentile, and I—received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Illinois State, a record that will likely never be surpassed by anther faculty member. We were all influenced by Herman.

Herman remained a valued mentor and friend, and his wise and kind counsel over the decades helped me navigate the challenges of a career as a federal government scientist. I will miss his friendship and almost magical presence in my life.

This reminds me of the line by Federico Fellini, the Italian movie director, who was from my grandparents’ hometown of Rimini, Italy. He noted that life consists of two things: pasta and magic. My grandmother taught me how to make pasta, which I still do. But being welcomed into Herman’s orbit brought magic into my life.

Thank you, Herman, for the magic.