Archive for the 'Obituaries' Category

Charles M. Huechert 1933-2011

Published on 22 September 2011 in News and Obituaries. 0 Comments

Charles Melvin Heuchert died 20 September 2011 in Waynesboro (VA, US). Professor Heuchert, who was known as Chuck by many friends and colleagues, was born on 30 August 1933 in Henning (MN, US) to Karl and Amanda Lueker Heuchert. He was a veteran of the United States Air Force and a four-time graduate of the University of Michigan, completing Ph.D. studies in 1969.

After teaching engagements at Syracuse University, the University of Michigan, and Eastern Michigan University, Chuck joined the faculty at the University of Virginia. He was a member of the faculty at U.Va. in the special education program from 1969 through his retirement in 1998, serving in various capacities including as assistant and then associate dean for undergraduate studies and licensure.

Throughout a career that began as a teacher and spanned 40 years, Chuck was an active advocate for students with emotional and behavior disorders and a champion of compassion and caring for student’s emotional needs, promoting child-centered methods such as Life-Space Interviewing and Reality Therapy. In 1973 Chuck co-authored Pain & Joy in School with Edward W. Schultz and Susan M. Stampf and in 1983 he co-authored Child Stress and the School Experience with Schultz. In 1987-88 he served as president of the International Council for Exceptional Children, the world’s largest organization devoted to improving services for individuals with disabilities and the gifted.

Read an obituary from the Waynesboro News Virginian and the Curry School’s in memoriam

William Conley Rhodes, II, 1918-2011

Published on 22 February 2011 in News and Obituaries. 0 Comments Tags: , .

William Conley Rhodes, II, died 18 February 2011 in The Villages (US, FL). Professor Rhodes, who was born in 14 November 1918 in Willets (LA, US), had a long career advocating for alternative perspectives about emotional and behavioral disorders.

Before his academic career, Professor Rhodes served in the US Army, achieving the rank of Captain. He completed bachelors and masters degrees at Emory University and took a doctoral degree in psychology from The Ohio State University. Professor Rhodes began his academic career at Vanderbilt University in the 1950s, working with Nicholas Hobbs. He then joined Eli Bower at the National Institute of Mental Health before going to the University of Michigan. After teaching and conducting research at the University of Michigan until 1980, Professor Rhodes finished his academic career as a senior scholar and visiting professor at the University of South Florida, where he taught until 2005.

An early paper in Exceptional Children by Professor Rhodes established his views about the reciprocal connection between children and their communities. Professsor Rhodes’ work on the Conceptual Project in Child Variance while at the University of Michigan in the early 1970s had substantial impact on special education for children and youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The project resulted in a multi-volume publication called A Study of Child Variance that presented perspectives on EBD based on conceptual models popular at that time—biological, behavioral, psychodynamic, sociological, and ecological—and that ultimately set him on a path to adopting a view that taking a critical view was better than taking any particular theoretical view. His early-career interest in ecological approaches progressed into a later-career embrace of liberatory theory and post-modernism.

Professor Rhodes was the son of William and Nell Rhodes. He is survived by his wife, Estelle Smith Rhodes, whom he met and married in 1942; their children William Rhodes, III, Joseph Rhodes, Naomi Rhodes, and Trisha Rhodes; siblings; and eleven grandchildren.

Rhodes, W. C. (1967). The disturbing child: A problem of ecological management. Exceptional Children, 33, 449-455.

Rhodes, W. C. (1975). A study of child variance. Vol. 4: The future. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Rhodes, W. C., & Head, S. (Eds.) (1974). A study of child variance. Vol. 3: Service devlivery systems. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Rhodes, W. C., & Paul, J. L. (1978). Emotionally disturbed and deviant children: New views and approaches. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Rhodes, W. C., & Tracy, M. (Eds.) (1974a). A study of child variance. Vol. 1: Conceptual models. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Rhodes, W. C., & Tracy, M. (Eds.) (1974b). A study of child variance. Vol. 2: Interventions. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

(My thanks to the Rhodes children for sharing recollections of their father’s life with me and to Jim Paul for his help with some of these facts.—JohnL)

Melvin D. Levine, 1940-2011

Published on 22 February 2011 in News, Obituaries and The Press. 0 Comments Tags: .

Dr. Melvin D. Levine, a widely known pediatrician who championed learning differences among children, died 17 February 2011 in Rougemont (NC, US) at age 71 years. Dr. Levine developed an extensive following for his views about atypical learning through his writing and lecturing while he practiced at Children’s Hospital in Boston (MA, US) and the Center for Development and Learning and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (NC, US).
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Ivar Lovaas, 1927-2010

Published on 4 August 2010 in News and Obituaries. 2 Comments

O. Ivar Lovaas, the clinical researcher responsible for the development of teaching procedures that are at the base of nearly all effective therapies for children with autism, passed away 2 August 2010. Professor Lovaas, who was born in Norway in 1927, was among a pioneering group of scholars who studied the use of principles based on behavioral psychology in treating deviant child behavior. Along with others, some of whom he numbered as co-authors (e.g., Donald M. Baer, Sidney W. Bijou), he can rightfully be considered a founder of applied behavior analysis.
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Kimberly L. Bright, 1957-2010

Published on 5 July 2010 in Obituaries and The Press. 0 Comments

Kim Bright

Kimberly L. Bright, associate professor of special education at Shippensburg University, died the 30 June 2010 in Harrisburg (PA, US).

Born 26 June 1957, she held degrees from several institutions of higher education. She received a bachelor’s degree from Millersville University, a master’s degree from Shippensburg University, and a doctoral degree from the Pennsylvania State University.

Prof. Bright began her career as a special education teacher. Later she became the director of special education for a local education agency in Pennsylvania.

Prof. Bright served as treasurer for the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD), an organization that she had previously served as the student representative, while completing graduate studies. In addition to her contributions to DLD, Prof. Bright also was active in the Pennsylvania chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children.

In addition to teaching courses about students with disabilities and effective teaching procedures, Prof. Bright also supervised many students during their practica. According to her colleague, David Bateman, “she is considered a mentor by many of the areas best teachers.” To review comments by some of those individuals, read the tributes posted on her Facebook page.

Link to the obituary published by Hoover Funeral Homes.

Edward G. Carr, 1947-2009

Published on 22 June 2009 in News, Obituaries and The Press. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Ted Carr

Edward Gary Carr, professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, died 20 June 2009 in an automobile accident. Professor Carr, who was know as “Ted” to friends and colleagues, conducted foundational studies about the functions that self-injurious behaviors served and contributed substantially to the development and refinement of methods known as “positive behavioral supports.” In addition, he assessed the benefits of teaching sign language to children with serious language problems such as Autism.

Professor Carr completed a doctoral degree at the University of California San Diego in 1973, worked briefly at the University of California Los Angeles, and then joined the faculty at Stony Brook where, in 2000, he was accorded the honor of an appointment as Leading Professor. During his tenure at Stony Brook he authored or co-authored scores of articles, chapters, monographs, and books; mentored many students; worked with organizations in the US and abroad; and founded and directed the Research & Training Center on Positive Behavior Support for Autism & Developmental Disabilities. His many publications include the books Communication-Based Intervention for Problem Behavior and How to Teach Sign Language to Developmentally Disabled Children.

Early in his career, Professor Carr began examining alternative explanations for self-injurious behavior among individuals with Autism, publishing “The Motivation of Self-injurious Behavior: A Review of Some Hypotheses” in the prestigious journal, Psychological Bulletin in 1977. Over the ensuing years he and colleagues increased the understanding of how self-injurious and other problem behavior might operate on the children’s environments, in effect serving a communicative function. He and others used this knowledge to develop and refine the procedures of functional behavior assessment. The work on humane means of reducing problem behaviors led Professor Carr and others to promote the methods of positive behavioral supports.

Link to biographical information about Professor Carr, a university-maintained page about him, and the Research & Training Center on Positive Behavior Support for Autism & Developmental Disabilities.

Kenneth A. Kavale 1946-2008

Published on 15 December 2008 in News and Obituaries. 4 Comments

Kenneth A. Kavale, 1946-2008
Ken Kavale

Kenneth A. Kavale, a noted scholar who studied learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, intellectual disabilities, and special education policies, died Saturday 13 December 2008 in Virginia Beach (VA, US). Professor Kavale, who was born in 1946 in Brooklyn (NY, US) and was most recently a distinguished professor at Regent University in Virginia Beach (VA, US), was widely known for his work on the nature, assessment, and treatment of students with disabilities. He was author or co-author of hundreds of articles, book chapters, and books and had presented scores of papers at professional meetings, conferences, and other public venues.

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H. Myklebust, 1910-2008

Published on 28 March 2008 in News, Obituaries and The Press. 0 Comments

Over on LD Blog I posted an entry about the passing of Helmer Myklebust, one of the giant figures in the early study of Learning Disabilities. Here’s a link to it.

Lee Wiederholt 1942-2007

Published on 14 February 2008 in News and Obituaries. 0 Comments

Over on LD Blog I posted a note about the passing of J. Lee Wiederholt. Link to the entry.

Bill Morse

Published on 29 January 2008 in Commentaries, News and Obituaries. 0 Comments

Over on EBD Blog there’s post reporting the death of William C. Morse, long-time special education professional.

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