Brian Rosenthal's Weblog

Ben Edelson passed away recently, and he was one of the nicest people I have ever met. He and I were both Presidential Scholars, and we met during recognition week in Washington, DC. From the week of 140 people, I kept in touch with Ben and maybe a handful of people when we went to Harvard.

At Harvard, Ben literally helped me through Organic Chemistry. Organic chemistry was so difficult for me. I couldn’t understand how to think about it. There were so many things it seemed I was just expected to understand that I didn’t. Ben was the person who explained them to me.

Ben and I lived in separate crowds in college, but I would see him often, and we would always take the time to catch up. He was studying with this Nobel Prize winner, really into chemistry research.

He was funny. Really funny. So funny, that I remember that whenever I would see him, he would say something that would make me laugh. Women flocked to him because he was not only funny, but smart, and also so deeply nice. He would always make time for people.

I don’t understand how someone like Ben could not be with us anymore. He is someone that I wanted to reconnect with, after the hectic race to feel comfortable about our careers.