Marvin Eisenberg, professor emeritus of art history at the University of Michigan, died peacefully May 18, 2016, after battling Parkinson’s disease. He was 93.

In 1943, Eisenberg graduated from Penn and then  served in the Army in World War II. He then earned M.F.A. (1949) and Ph.D. (1954) degrees in art from Princeton. He started in 1949 as an instructor at Michigan, retiring in 1989 as professor emeritus.

From 1960 to 1969, he chaired Michigan’s art history department. He was also director of graduate studies from 1982 to 1985. In 1957, he received the Class of 1923 Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 1987 the Distinguished Teaching of History of Art Award from the College Art Association of America.

Eisenberg was at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton for a term, and was president of the College Art Association from 1968 to 1969. He was internationally celebrated as an art historian specializing in early Italian art and museum studies. He taught and lectured at research institutions and major museums worldwide. In 2003, St. Andrews University in Scotland conferred on him an honorary doctorate.

Eisenberg is survived by five nieces and nephews and four great-nieces and nephews who knew him as an endearing uncle.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.

Class Year: 
Graduate Class of 1954