In Memoriam

Remembering members of our cherished GSE community who have recently passed away.

Faculty

Headshot of Micahel Simmons.

MICHAEL L. SIMMONS JR., retired faculty member of GSE’s former Department of Social, Philosophical and Historical Foundations of Education, passed away in November 2022 at 96.

Simmons earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Berkeley and subsequently studied at UCLA with America’s foremost philosopher of education, George Kneller. He assisted Kneller’s publication of what would become the nation’s long-reigning  “Introduction to Philosophy of Education” textbook.

As his teaching and research career unfolded at UB in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Simmons carried forward the traditional approaches of Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau and Dewey, focusing on the power of education to address prevalent issues through social science and aesthetic theory. He saw the philosophical naturalism of Dewey and the philosophical materialism of renowned UB social and educational philosopher Marvin Farber as contributing to the philosophy of education and helping to explain social foundations as a discipline.

Simmons wrote abundantly on epistemology, dialectics and civics education and delivered numerous papers at the American Educational Studies Association, the New York State Foundations of Education Association and the Philosophy of Education Society. He believed: “We must have or create a social system that makes living according to the principles of goodness possible.”

In addition, Simmons introduced his graduate students to the full range of the newer critical theories of education developed by the Frankfurt School’s Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse and Habermas, as well as the liberation pedagogy of Paulo Freire.

Several generations of GSE students benefited from his intellectual leadership in this regard, publishing their own books on critical educational theory and addressing the issue of the role of schooling in the radical transformation of society. The critical ideas and empathic presence of Michael L. Simmons Jr. remain permanent features in the GSE community.

Emeritus Faculty

William E. McGrath.

WILLIAM E. MCGRATH, professor emeritus of library and information science, passed away on April 10, 2022, at 95.

McGrath grew up during the Great Depression and dropped out of high school to work in the Charlestown/Boston Navy Yard during the early years of World War II. Later, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a radio operator from 1944 to 1946.

Following his Navy service, he completed three years of high school in one year. In 1952, he graduated from the University of Massachusetts, where he met his wife, Shirley Hathaway, who also became a librarian. After graduation, he obtained a master’s degree in library science from the University of Michigan and a PhD from Syracuse University.

He began his career as a science librarian at the University of New Hampshire, where he furthered his interest in science and statistical inference. His career brought him to UB after several leadership positions in university libraries throughout the country. He retired in 1996 as a full professor. Over the years, he published more than 70 papers on statistical analysis and mathematics.

McGrath's writing did not end upon his retirement. He published biographical articles on Grace Drayton, a children's illustrator; and Albion Reed Hodgdon, a botanist. He compiled a 300-page history of the Louis Madore Marion family about his maternal grandparents and their ten children. He also wrote an account of his time aboard the USS Dixie during World War II. In his 90s, he completed a memoir about his father.

He was a beloved member of the University at Buffalo community and he will be deeply missed by his colleagues and former students.

Alumni

1950s

  • Ruth L. Judd, BEd ’52| 01/27/2023
  • Irene B. Leichtman, BEd ’52 | 09/13/2022
  • Betty M. Durdan, BEd ’53 | 04/13/2022
  • Laura J. Tuccelli, EdM ’53, BEd ’52 | 04/04/2016
  • Dr. Jack Aikens, PhD ’56, EdM ’56 | 03/18/2014
  • Michael S. Zimmer, EdM ’57, BA ’52 | 10/19/2022 
  • Mr. Paul G. Littlefield, EdM ’58 | 12/09/2022
  • John J. Roach, EdM ’58 | 04/08/2019 
  • Anthony F. Corral, EdM ’59, BEd ’51 | 10/04/2022

1960s

  • Whilma B. Rizzo, EdM ’61, BEd ’52 | 09/27/2022 
  • Dr. John H. Rosenbach, EdD ’61, EdM ‘56 | 11/08/2022
  • Michael J. Wech Jr., BEd ’67, BEd ’61 | 05/20/2022
  • Raymond N. Harvey, EdM ’63, | 05/14/2022
  • Diana W. Woodberry, EdM ’65 | 10/31/2022
  • Maurice Lutwack Jr., EdM ’66 | 02/14/2022
  • Joseph S. Plesur, EdM ’66, BA ’56 | 09/14/2020 
  • Helen C. Ablove, EdM ’67, BA ’47 | 11/15/2022
  • Clifford A. Miller, EdM ‘67, BEd ’57 | 07/21/2022
  • Lawrence M. Szarachan, EdM ’67, BA ’65 | 03/05/2022
  • Lawrence F. McCormick, EdM ’68, BEd ‘60 | 04/08/2021
  • Dr. Ronald G. Davison, EdD '69, EdM '64 | 01/05/23
  • Audrey C. Hurd, EdM ’69 | 07/16/2022
  • Paul F. La Turner, EdM ’69, BEd ’67 | 07/16/2022

1970s

  • Dr. Lee DeNike, EdM ’70 | 07/11/2022
  • Elizabeth J. Venator, EdM ’70 | 02/17/2022
  • William C. Hance, EdM ’71 | 09/05/2022 
  • Peter W. DelBello, EdM ’72, BS ’67 | 04/23/2022
  • Carol J. Richards, MLS ’72 | 11/21/2022
  • Walter J. Winkler, MLS ’72 | 07/21/2022 
  • Eleanor L. Hoffmann, EdM ’73 | 10/11/2022
  • Kristin M. Nazaret, MLS ’73 | 02/11/2023 
  • Dr. Robert J. Przybyszewski, EdD ’73 | 09/22/2022
  • Dr. Robert J. Cinelli, EdD ’74 | 09/19/2022 
  • Clara M. Davis, EdM ’74, BA ’70 | 08/05/2022 
  • Dr. Herbert A. Furash, EdD ’74, EdM ’66 | 09/27/2021
  • Ann K. Paci, EdM ’76 | 09/29/2021
  • Gwendolyn B. Pippens, EdM ’76| 12/10/2021 
  • David C. Tully Sr., EdM ’76 | 03/18/2022 
  • Dr. Gerald P. Glose, EdD ’77, MA ’74 | 12/07/2022 
  • Dr. William B. Thomas, PhD ’78 | 02/19/2023

1980s

  • Paula T. Costello, EdM ’80 | 05/15/2022
  • Dr. Jorge A. Grimes, EdD ’82 | 10/05/2022 
  • David M. Leibelshon, EdM ’83, BA ’69 | 11/18/2022
  • Dr. Sharon J. Oliver, PhD ’83, MS ’76 | 08/28/2022
  • Dr. Barbara R. Schirmer, EdD ’83, BS ’70 | 02/03/2023
  • Yvonne James-Brown, EdM ’84, BA ’75 | 04/05/2022
  • Dr. Julius G. Adams, PhD ’88, MA ’85 | 03/26/2023
  • Stephen K. Daniels, MA ’85 | 07/17/2022
  • Dr. Necia A. Black, PhD ’86 | 09/20/2022 
  • Dr. Truman B. Brown, PhD ’86 | 08/18/2021
  • Francis J. Carey, MLS ’89 | 09/06/2022

1990s

  • Thomas N. Jordan, EdM ’90 | 08/20/2022 
  • Thomas A. Jusko, EdM ’90 | 09/23/2022 
  • Richard A. Lamoureux, EdM ’90 | 09/01/2022 
  • Catherine F. Gibbs, MLS ’92 | 07/13/2022
  • Patsy Vedder Clark, Adv. Cert. ’92 | 04/28/2022 
  • Dr. Daniel W. Anger, PhD ’93, MSW ‘71 | 08/27/2022 
  • Christopher A. Garuccio, EdM ’93, BA ’90 | 10/18/2022
  • Denise A. Krallman, MA ’93 | 12/25/2022
  • Wendy S. Gloss, MLS ’94 | 04/29/2022
  • Donna L. Groner, MLS ’96 | 07/16/2022

2000s

  • Mr. Paul L. Lukasik, MS ’03, BS ’91 | 02/05/2023 
  • Dr. Theresa A. Harris-Tigg, PhD ’05 | 09/06/2022 
  • Jacinta M. Penkszyk, MLS ’09 | 02/23/2021 

2010s

  • Erin E. Barlow, MLS ’12 | 11/04/2021
  • Danielle N. Russo, MLS ’12 | 06/20/2022