Brian Barry looks back on more than five decades of teaching and connection at RIT as he prepares for retirement

Rochester, New York – When Associate Professor Brian Barry steps away from the classroom on June 30, it will mark the end of an extraordinary 52-year career at Rochester Institute of Technology. Jointly appointed in the College of Liberal Arts’ Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of Psychology, Barry has not only educated generations of students but also left a deep imprint on the university’s academic and emotional landscape.

Since arriving at RIT in 1973, Barry has followed his boundless intellectual curiosity to explore and teach complex aspects of the human experience. One of his greatest contributions to campus life was the creation of the now-iconic “Death and Dying” course—a class that has helped thousands of students confront, understand, and process grief in deeply personal ways.

“The demand for the course has been insatiable,” Barry said, reflecting on more than four decades of teaching the subject. “I’m proud of both the fact that I put the course together and that it was received so well.”

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Ironically, Barry initially resisted creating the course when his dean, Paul Bernstein, suggested mirroring a similar offering from Johns Hopkins University. At the time, Barry’s scholarly focus leaned more toward political issues. But after his mother died of breast cancer, he began to reconsider.

“There were things happening to me, and things I observed in others, that were worth analyzing more academically,” Barry said. He went on to design the course under the straightforward and powerful title Death and Dying, despite concerns from a curriculum committee that students might shy away from something so direct.

Instead, the course became a campus mainstay—and more importantly, a source of comfort and growth for many students.

“I try to keep a relatively light approach,” Barry said. “I didn’t want this to be a course students dread. Very few people have the opportunity to talk about what’s going on when they’re grieving.”

The feedback he received over the years—letters from former students, heartfelt thank-you notes, and stories of personal healing—affirmed the impact of his approach. One former student even turned her experience in the course into a career, founding a company that provides grief services in prisons across the Midwest.

Teaching, for Barry, was never about just transmitting knowledge. It was about creating a space where students could think for themselves, explore their identities, and build trust. He fostered that environment through unconventional yet profoundly effective methods, such as never bringing notes to class.

“I convinced myself that it was unfair to expect students to learn things that I needed to reference notes to report on,” Barry said. “There was a spontaneity to that way of interacting with students that was enhanced by this approach.”

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That spontaneity also created space for meaningful, student-driven discussions—a hallmark of his teaching style. “College students are really beginning to think and explore various issues as they settle into their own beliefs,” Barry said. “It makes for engaging and fascinating conversations.”

Those conversations often grew into lasting relationships. Barry recalls one particularly thoughtful student who became his teaching assistant and, years after graduation, his partner in a two-person monthly book club. “Her friendship has meant a lot to me,” he said.

Now, as he prepares to retire, Barry is looking forward to a quieter rhythm of life—filled with books, a bit of writing, and time with family, especially his granddaughter. Yet retirement also comes with its challenges. He has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the primary reason for his departure from teaching.

Still, Barry remains characteristically thoughtful and optimistic. “I may even read some books that I don’t have to take notes on,” he said with a smile. “There could be a more relaxed kind of approach.”

In the end, Barry’s legacy is more than the classes he taught—it is the lives he touched, the students he inspired, and the deeply human connections he fostered.

“I’ve never received a negative reaction saying this course was too depressing,” he said of Death and Dying. “I tend to get a welcoming response because very few people have an opportunity to talk about what’s going on when they’re grieving. That is always gratifying to learn.”

As the RIT community bids farewell to a professor who turned loss into learning and curiosity into connection, Brian Barry leaves behind more than a distinguished academic record—he leaves behind a legacy of heart.