Leed

Richard Leaman Leed, Ph.D. '58, a professor of linguistics at Cornell for more than 50 years, died at his home in Ithaca Dec. 5 at age 82.

Born in Lititz, Pa., Jan. 31, 1929, Leed earned a B.A. from Oberlin College (1954) and a Ph.D. in Slavic linguistics (1958) at Cornell.

He joined the faculty of what was then called the Division of Modern Languages at Cornell in 1958, retiring in 1994 as professor emeritus. He led the Russian language program and served for a number of years as director of the language and phonetics laboratories of the department. He taught courses on Russian language, history of Russian, structure of Russian, Russian phonetics, Russian dialectology, comparative Slavic linguistics, Old Russian, Old Church Slavic, Russian for teachers, language courses in Czech, Serbo-Croatian and Polish, English as a second language, and seminars on Russian rhyme, structure of Lithuanian, meaning-text lexicography, phonetics and intonation.

He also raised sheep on the family farm and was known on occasion to wear his work boots to the office, which endeared him to some colleagues more than others.

Leed was author, co-author and editor of some dozen books on the Russian language and Slavic linguistics. He also published several hundred letters to the editor and op-ed pieces in various journals and newspapers, to the amusement and consternation of many a reader. He devoted much of his retirement to analyzing the meter of Shakespeare's works.

He was predeceased by his wife, Gretel (Gerry) Edwards Reinhold, and is survived by two sons, their families and numerous extended family members.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a favorite charity in Leed's name. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, Dec. 9, at the Unitarian Church, 306 N. Aurora St. The memorial service will include a short concert of Bach chorales.