The Dr. Robert M. Spector Endowed Scholarship
Criteria: (Amount Equal to One Full Annual Tuition Award) The Robert M. Spector Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to a full-time history major in his or her junior or senior year with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, with preference given to a student who has plans to pursue graduate studies in law or history education. Applicants must provide a short essay attesting to their need for this grant and their interest in becoming a lawyer or history teacher/professor.
Robert M. Spector, J.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of History and Constitutional Law at Worcester State University for 45 years, took his greatest joy in teaching. He always remarked that in his 82 years of life, he was only out of the classroom for six, including his first four years of life and two spent serving his country in the Korean Conflict. His passion for imparting wisdom and inspiring young minds was only surpassed by the fulfillment he received back from his students. His teaching style included humor, personal anecdotes, and enlightening perspectives which, combined with his personal warmth, made him a most popular lecturer.
Dr. Spector was educated in the Boston school system and subsequently earned five degrees, including both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree in literature and history at Boston University. This was followed by a second Master of Arts degree in education. Academics were then interrupted for two years by distinguished service to his country in Korea, where he received a commendation ribbon with metal pendant for meritorious service. The above was followed by a degree in law from Boston College in 1959 and a Ph.D. in history that he received in 1961 from Boston University.
Dr. Spector’s career began as a teacher in the Boston school system, including the prestigious Boston Latin School. This was followed by 45 years serving as Professor of History and Constitutional Law at Worcester State University. As an attorney, Dr. Spector had been a member of the Massachusetts Bar since 1960 and was admitted to the United States Supreme Court in 1969. He served his community and country in his role as legal expert, often without compensation, in addition to heading a successful private practice law firm.
As a great humanitarian, Dr. Spector was a member of the Anti-Defamation League, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., Simon Wiesenthal Center, Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, and was a regular contributor to the United Negro College Fund.
As a lover of the arts and the humanities, Dr. Spector has authored and, in part, published approximately 27 books and plays, including both fiction and non-fiction. His most prestigious work being a two-volume treatise titled World Without Civilization: Mass Murder and the Holocaust, History and Analysis. As the definitive work on world genocide, university and public libraries and countless individuals hold this book worldwide. Dr. Spector has published innumerable scholarly articles in prestigious journals and encyclopedias, many of which have garnered awards and are citation classics.
Dr. Spector leaves as his legacy thousands of students who he guided, inspired, and enabled to prosper, for themselves, their families, and their communities. He was proud of Worcester State University, which grew from a small teachers college to a major multidisciplinary university in Massachusetts over his 45-year career. It is with equal pride that Dr. Spector saw his own son, Richard, graduate with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Worcester State University. Professor Spector’s greatest desire, along with this wife, Charlotte, is to provide this scholarship to help others who hope to find their wisdom and humanity within the gates of Worcester State University.