By Melanie Dostis, News Staff

Bruce Wallin was the legendary professor all Northeastern students had to have in class before graduating, the one who epitomized the definition of “teacher” by always putting his students first, through demanding work and unending care.

“He could literally make any topic come alive and he taught from a wealth of actual work,” said Chris Chanyasulkit, Wallin’s teaching assistant for three semesters, as well as one of his graduate students.

Wallin, an associate professor of political science, died Dec. 29 in Boston after a brief battle with cancer. He was 63.

Wallin joined the university’s staff in 1990 and was twice the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award.  He also received an award from the American Political Science Association in 1999 for his book, “From Revenue Sharing to Deficit Sharing: General Revenue Sharing and Cities.”

“He was incredibly committed to the excellence of the university,” said associate professor of communication studies Alan Zaremba, who became closer with Wallin after they both attended a retreat together.

His classes – in the fields of American politics, public finance and budgeting – were known by students to always start on time. To ensure his students were never late, Wallin would make them do jumping jacks or even call their mothers in front of the class.

“He taught you about respect,” Chanyasulkit said.

Interested in his students’ success, Wallin worked with students each year to apply for the Truman Scholarship. Wallin was a Fulbright Scholar in the Czech Republic.

“He got a lot of satisfaction from helping out young people,” said John Tobin, Northeastern’s vice president of city and community relations.

Tobin said Wallin loved to talk about his student-led trips to Japan and how much he got out of it.

Wallin was an instrumental figure in setting up a partnership with Meiji University in Tokyo.

A resident of Jamaica Plain, Wallin was the co-founder and leader of the West Roxbury Courthouse Neighborhood Association.

“He gave our neighborhood a voice that we could not have had without him,” fellow co-founder and neighbor Liz O’Connor said.

Tobin, a former Boston city councilor, also knew of Wallin’s love for his community. While running for office at the age of 24, Tobin reached out to the residents of Jamaica Plain. Wallin was one of the first to call him back. The two eventually formed a close bond, and Wallin was the first person Tobin sat down with upon starting his career at Northeastern.

“Just talking to him, you knew he had a big heart,” Tobin said.

A devoted Huskies fan, Wallin was known to take Northeastern athletes under his wing.

“He was very committed to the well being of Northeastern athletes. He would invite them to dinner if they had nowhere else to go during break or hadn’t settled in that well yet,” O’Connor said.

Wallin himself was an athlete, who played basketball at Princeton University.

Tobin said Wallin’s main focus, however, was his two daughters.

“He was a really good, devoted dad,” O’Connor said.

Wallin is survived by his wife, Vickie; two daughters, Anne, 15, and Eva, 11; and his sister Barbara Lynch.

“He was not just a professor. He was a community activist, a husband, a father, an athlete, a friend,” Chanyasulkit said.

The university will hold a memorial service at 3:30 pm Jan. 24 in the Curry Student Center Ballroom.