Students are invited to honor late professor at a tree planting ceremony to honor his legacy at BGSU.

On April 30 at 2 p.m. outside of Williams Hall, a ceremony will take place to honor the life and legacy of political science professor Dr. Marc Simon.

“Dr. Simon was a political science professor, the chair of the political science department, the advisor of the International Relations Organization (IRO), one of the advisors for political science students, and the coordinator for the peace and conflict studies minor,” said senior political science student, Elyse Adrian.

Adrian helped fundraise and set up the event, as they are majoring in political science and a member of IRO.  Adrian and others came up with the idea of a memorial tree because it would be a great way to honor the late professor.

“Memorial trees can be purchased by anyone to honor a student, faculty or staff member, or alumni of BGSU,” Adrian said.  “We decided this would be a great way to honor Dr. Simon’s legacy, especially because his death was unexpected”

Anyone who knew Simon is welcome to attend the ceremony.

“All of the political science faculty and students were invited but anyone is free and welcome to attend,” Adrian said.

The event will be used to get everyone who knew Simon close together to share stories and honor his career at BGSU.

“We have not quite decided yet, but it will likely be a moment of silence, maybe a prayer, and then some mingling,” Adrian said.

This planting will honor a career of a BGSU professor who left his mark on students and his coworkers.

“He was the most kindhearted, generous and smartest person I knew,” Adrian said.