Greenberg dies of brain cancer at 58

Joseph Greenberg GS '77, who served in the University Registrar's Office for 27 years, died late Sunday night of complications from brain cancer. He was 58.

Greenberg had been battling cancer since his diagnosis and surgery last July.

Despite his illness, "he put in a full day's work every day until the end," Deputy Registrar Robert Bromfield said. "That's the kind of spirit he had."

As registrar since 2000, Greenberg played an integral role in modernizing the University's system of record keeping and departmental communication. "He was incredibly devoted and loyal to the institution. He believed in its ideals," said Hinda Greenberg, his wife of 37 years.

One of Greenberg's projects was the overhaul of the University's outdated registration system. In collaboration with OIT, he implemented the new PeopleSoft Student Administration System in July.

The system provides online course information and registration that coordinates all departments and provides students and faculty with enhanced access to academic records.

"He had a great sense of opportunity and possibility — instead of sticking to established ways of doing business, he was always ready to find new ways to accomplish the work of the office, to do a better job of serving faculty and students," Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel said in a statement.

During his time here, Greenberg was involved in many facets of the University. He received his Ph.D. in English from Princeton in 1977, specializing in 18th-century English drama. The next year, he directed the expository writing program for the Department of English. He became assistant registrar in 1978 and moved up the ranks to deputy registrar in 1993 and acting registrar in 1999.

He has also served as a Butler College adviser for over 10 years. "He really cared about listening," Hinda Greenberg said.

In addition to his University work, Greenberg loved art, literature and traveling. He and his wife bonded over their modern British literature class senior year at Temple University in 1968, she said. After sitting next to Greenberg, "I figured this guy's really smart, maybe I should get to know him," she said. They married that summer.

Since then, the couple has traveled around the world. Hinda Greenberg described a spectacular trip to Guatemala in 2002, where they watched the sun rise over the Mayan ruins at Tikal with "a host of parrots flying out of the clouds as the sun rose."

In December, in spite of his illness, they traveled to Venice and Florence to visit art museums and observe the architecture.

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The trip reflected Greenberg's never-ending passion for art. Closer to home, he and his wife were members of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

When Greenberg couldn't attend a show, he offered his tickets to a colleague. Bromfield recalls when Greenberg gave him tickets to the Museum of Modern Art's Matisse Picasso exhibit in 2003.

"He was a warm and gracious man who cared about putting others before himself," Bromfield said, "I will miss him. He was a true friend, a kind and gracious man."

Vice Provost for Institutional Research Jed Marsh will oversee the registrar's office "in a caretaker role," Bromfield said. The University plans to discuss who will permanently replace Greensberg in the near future.

His funeral will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at Goldstein's Funeral Home in Southampton, Penn. The University will organize a campus memorial service at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Coalition for the Homeless or the Center for Jewish Life.

— Includes reporting by Princetonian Staff Writer Arielle Gorin.