The best teacher I had at Columbia was Professor Lloyd Motz. Beyond teaching a very interesting course in Astronomy, he gave me a real-life personification of what it was to truly be an intellectual. In every class I had with him, I learned something new about what it really meant to use your intelligence, to BE your intelligence. He had no pretense; there was no false front; never was there a trace of ego or bluster. Instead, there was the unleavened power of a great mind, eager to share and encourage and instruct. A given class might include poetry, religion, science, history and current events - all related to the subject, but at the same time globally inspiring. And when things got slow and he thought he might be losing his audience, he always had something extra to throw in - like writing on the blackboard behind his back while giving the lecture. I still feel his inspiration today - he was an elemental power.