Hobart and William Smith Colleges

15 October 2026 Levine ’59 Donates Forensic History Collection to HWS

A remarkable collection of materials gathered during a career in forensic odontology finds a new home at HWS.

Over the course of a storied career, forensic odontologist Dr. Lowell J. Levine ’59 helped investigators answer questions surrounding some of the most closely examined deaths of the 20th century. 

Now, materials Levine accumulated over a lifetime of research will become a resource for HWS students. His extensive collection of historical documents, photographs, books and X-rays will be permanently housed in HWS Archives & Special Collections.

The collection includes materials related to the identification of the Romanov family, Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, the MOVE organization in Philadelphia, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and other historical subjects. It also contains author-signed books, research notes, correspondence and documents obtained through Levine's professional contacts around the world.

Among the collection's most notable items is a copy of the Warren Commission Report signed by Levine and the panel of forensic pathologists involved in the investigation of Kennedy's assassination. 

The collection also includes reports, photographs, correspondence and research materials from Levine's work serving with the commission of scientists that traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil to identify the remains of Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor responsible for sending 400,000 people to their deaths at Auschwitz-Birkenau. As part of his role with the commission, Levine brought together forensic experts from Brazil, West Germany and the United States to compare findings and ensure their measurements were scientifically consistent. 

Throughout his career, Levine says he has relied on his liberal arts education to navigate unchartered territory. 

“The liberal arts prepare you for whatever situation you find yourself in,” Levine says. “You know how to think, you know what to say. It just becomes natural to you.”

After Archivist Brandon Moblo is finished processing Levine's items, the collection will include a finding aid, allowing students, faculty and other researchers to search the materials.

“This is a really interesting collection,” says Moblo. “Students will be able to handle materials connected to significant people and events they’ve learned about in their courses. It’s the kind of collection that can make history feel much more tangible and immediate.”

For Levine, being intentional about preserving the materials where they could be studied and appreciated for their historical significance was more important than selling to private collectors.

"My goal was for the items to remain together and be used for research and teaching," Levine says. "I hope generations of faculty and students find it useful." 

In addition to his gift to HWS, Levine has donated materials from the Josef Mengele investigation to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. He also donated materials from his investigation of the Romanov family to the Russian History Museum at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, N.Y. 

Levine is considered one of the country's top dental experts. He served as a forensic consultant to the U.S. House of Representative's Select Committee on Assassination Investigation of the death of President John F. Kennedy, traveled with a team to Russia to examine the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, participated in the medicolegal investigation of the sailors killed on the U.S. Stark, and has assisted the House Select Committee on other assassination investigations. Levine testified in the case of serial killer Ted Bundy, and assisted in investigations by the "Commission of the Disappeared" of Argentina as well as the investigation of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Levine retired as a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve. During his service, in which he spent time with the Navy, Naval Aviation and the U.S. Marine Corps, he led a U.S. Navy training team to Jakarta for three weeks to help the Indonesian military in the identifications aspect of aviation accident investigation. He also represented the Navy at a conference at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. 

In addition to training scientists in Indonesia, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador and other countries for various governments and agencies, he has been published in many scientific papers and has lectured internationally. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii since 1986, helping to identify MIAs of all the U.S. wars. He has served as the President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the American Board of Forensic Odontology, and the Forensic Sciences Foundation.

While at Hobart, Levine studied biology and chemistry. He was a member of the Temple Club, News Bureau, Science Club, WEOS and The Herald. In 1992, he was presented with the Hobart Medal of Excellence, the Hobart College Alumni Association's highest honor.