Remembering Michael Simon
Michael Simon—well beloved photography professor from 1969 through 1998—has passed away at the age of 89.
Michael Alexander Simon was born on June 20, 1936, to Magda Schreiber Stern and Miklos Stern in Budapest, Hungary. He created a rich life from the opportunities and interests he found after living through the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Hungary as a young man. He participated in the Hungarian Revolution, escaped to Austria in November 1956, and came to the United States in January 1957, with the support of the U.S. Escapee Program.
He moved to New York City where, inspired by his mother’s cousin, the Hungarian photographer Marian Reismann, and by his father’s love of the medium, he pursued an interest in photography. He began working as a commercial photographer.
Though World War II and the Hungarian Revolution interrupted his education, throughout his life he remained intellectually curious and a dedicated student of the world. He earned a certificate in commercial photography from New York Institute of Photography in 1958, a master of fine arts degree from Rochester Institute of Technology while on sabbatical in 1986, and a bachelor’s degree from Beloit College in 1998.
In 1961, he married Carol Winters ’82, and in 1968, they moved from New York to Carol’s parents’ farm in northern Illinois with their daughter, Amy. Their son Nicholas was born the following year. Through happenstance, Simon was hired to create an audio-visual experience at Beloit College.
Credit: Peter Billard ’72
He transformed that project into a career teaching photography as a professor in the Department of Art and Art History from 1969 to 1998. He taught and inspired hundreds of students — as well as colleagues, family, and friends — by emphasizing how to look at the world, encouraging students to make, not take, photos, and helping them to see their own potential.
“The ability to perceive is a gift; being able to describe one’s thoughts in words is a talent, [and] a learnable skill. And teaching students to express their opinion is the task of a good school.” — Michael Simon
In a 2018 profile in this magazine, Susan Kasten wrote that Michael and Carol “were surrogate parents, mentors, and friends to countless students.” He shared his passion for photography in his classroom in the basement of the Wright Art Center, on field trips along the Sugar River, and in his family home on Church Street after they moved to Beloit.
He inspired his students to pay attention, to see, and to create. Many of them became photographers, filmmakers, and artists. Many more report on the profound and enduring effect he had on their lives. He is remembered for his warmth and intuition, his humor, curiosity, and patience, and for his habitual greeting, delivered with his Hungarian accent: “Hello, good people.”
Credit: George Tatge ’72
Credit: Dennis Moore, Beloit College Archives
Credit: Michael Tarabulski ’81
As well as teaching and making and developing photographs, Simon worked to promote photography as an art and an academic subject. His wife, Carol, was an integral part of his life and career, working with him on many projects. His work has been exhibited widely, including “The World is Beautiful: The Photography of Michael Simon” at the Wright Art Museum in 1998.
His photographs are in the collections of the George Eastman Museum, Hungarian Museum of Photography, Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Wisconsin Historical Society, Wright Art Museum, Beloit College, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The Michael and Carol Simon Collection of Hungarian photography at the Getty Research Institute was the foundation of his book, Hungarian Photography: A Comparative History. He published numerous articles and essays as well as the book: First Lessons in Black-and-White Photography, with Dennis Moore.
After retirement in 1998, he was active as a volunteer, continuing his love of teaching and making connections with people young and old. As a founding member of Come Boating! in Belfast, Maine, he drew upon his experience as a coxswain for a Hungarian crew training for the Olympics on the Danube River. He helped construct its first gig, Belle Fast, served as a coxswain, and taught people to row and sail.
Credit: Peter Billard ’72
Despite experiencing the horrors of war, genocide, and dictatorships, Simon met life with curiosity, joy, and realistic optimism. His legacy — in addition to his photographs, writings, and family — includes the hundreds, if not thousands, of students, friends, and acquaintances who went on to become photographers and visual artists or to fulfill the potential he encouraged them to see in themselves. He summed up his worldview when he often quoted Margaret Schlegel from Howards End, by E.M. Forster:
“Only connect!”
Simon died of pneumonia on Dec. 15, 2025, at the age of 89 in Bangkok, Thailand. He is survived by his wife, Carol, their children: Amy Simon Hopwood, her children, Stefan and Simon Hopwood, and her partner, Dan Ellis; Nicholas Andrew Simon, his daughter, Lulu Simon, and his wife, Fa Benedetti. He was cremated and his ashes scattered in a Buddhist ceremony off the coast of Hua Hin, Thailand, in December 2025. Another memorial will take place in Belfast, Maine, in fall 2026. A notice will be posted on the alumni Facebook page when the date and location are determined.
