Memorial service scheduled for Wayne Law professor

A memorial service for Ralph Slovenko, professor emeritus at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7, in Hebrew Memorial Chapel, 26640 Greenfield Road in Oak Park. Slovenko, who retired May 15 after 44 years at Wayne Law, died Sunday, Nov. 3. He was 86. One of the nation's most respected experts in forensic psychology, Slovenko was known for being outspoken as well as scholarly. He was the author of hundreds of articles and 10 books, including the acclaimed Psychiatry in Law/Law in Psychiatry, published in a second edition in 2009. He was editor of the American Series in Behavioral Science and Law and a regular contributor to The Journal of Psychiatry & Law. His book, Psychiatry in Law, published in 1973, was awarded the Manfred Guttmacher Award of the American Psychiatric Association, cited as "a monumental work" and named Book of the Month Club selection of the Behavior Science Book Club. "Ralph made outstanding contributions to the fields of law and psychiatry and had a distinguished career of more than four decades at our law school," said Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson. "We mourn his loss but know that the impact of his work continues." Slovenko spoke five languages and was active with the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield and the local Holocaust Memorial Center. He earned a bachelor's degree, master's degree, doctorate in psychology and law degree from Tulane University, where he once was on the track and field team and held a residency in psychiatry. He loved to travel and lectured in countries including Australia, France, Israel, Japan, Russia and South Africa. He was a guest professor at Haifa University in Israel and Utrecht University in the Netherlands. In addition to his tenure in academia, Slovenko's background included serving as a law clerk to Louisiana Supreme Court Justice E. Howard McCaleb, a Fulbright Scholar in France, a New Orleans senior assistant district attorney, a practicing attorney and a U.S. District Court commissioner for Judge J. Skelly Wright. His survivors include his wife, Natalia Lilenko; son, Boris Korjov; and a grandchild. The family suggests donations in his memory may be made to Tulane University, the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, or the Detroit Institute of Arts. Published: Wed, Nov 6, 2013