Theophile Krawiec
Theophile Krawiec, a longtime psychology professor, died February 9, 1995, in Bethlehem, Pa. He was 81.
Born in Central Falls, R.I., Phil received a B.A. from Colby College, a B.S. from Brown University, and a Ph.D. from New York University. Before joining Skidmore psychology faculty in 1945, he taught at Oregon State College.
Phil chaired the Psychology Department from 1947 until 1970. In 1953 he was a Fulbright lecturer at Ibrahim University in Cairo, Egypt. Selected by his colleagues to deliver the Faculty Research Lecture in 1962, he discussed the principles of character development in lecture titled “An Essay on Values.”
In 1971 he was chosen one of the nation’s two most outstanding teachers of psychology by the American Psychological Foundation, whose citation read in part, “His success in building a strong teaching department attests to his primary dedication to good teaching of psychology” and added that as chair, “he continued to teach the elementary course in which he showed a special ability to make psychology understandable and interesting.” The Krawiec Scholarship at Skidmore began with the APF’s award of a $1,000 and now supports the college’s annual Krawiec Scholars Award and Krawiec Psychology Prize.
Among Phil’s many publications were the textbook Beginning Psychology (1950) and System and Theories of Psychology (1960), which he co-authored with J.P. Chaplin. One of his last endeavors at Skidmore was an oral history project using interviews with distinguished psychologists on the status of psychology in the 20th century; these tapes were donated to the U.S. Library of Congress.
After retiring from Skidmore in 1978, he held adjunct teaching positions, first at Meredith College and then at Lehigh University, until 1990.
Phil’s sons Wesley and Steven and four grandchildren survived him.