Robert C Pace

1912 - 2011

Robert C Pace obituary, 1912-2011, Arcata, CA

Robert Pace Obituary

Published by Legacy Remembers on Feb. 10, 2011.

C. Robert Pace

C. Robert Pace professor emeritus of higher education at UCLA and a pioneer in developing methods of institutional research, died peacefully of natural causes February 5, 2011, at home in Arcata, California, surrounded by his family. He was 98 years old. Robert Pace was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1912, and spent his childhood in Duluth, on the shore of Lake Superior. He graduated from DePauw University in 1933, and received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1937, where he began his lifelong interest in measuring and evaluating the college student experience. Following his post-graduate work at Minnesota and Columbia University, he was a research associate in a post-doctoral fellowship for the American Council on Education in Washington DC, and a research psychologist for the Bureau of Navy Personnel during World War II. He joined the faculty at Syracuse University in 1947, where he directed the Evaluation Services Center, was assistant to the chancellor, and department chairman for the newly formed psychology department which within five years became fully accredited and rated as one of the top 20 psychology departments in the country. He was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford in 1959. His professorship at UCLA, from 1961 to his retirement in 1982 and beyond, included directing the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation, and creating the College Student Experiences Questionnaire, a Systematic Measurement of Quality of Student Effort. He received numerous awards for his work, and is the author of dozens of publications. During his long career he was a consultant, researcher and advisor for the American Council on Education, The College Entrance Examination Board, the Social Science Research Council, the U.S. Office of Education, the Fund for the Advancement of Education of the Ford Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation, as well as dozens of colleges and universities, including Humboldt State University in his late retirement years. In his remarks for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators awards luncheon in 1993, Pace said "Now we face new conditions---new students, new technologies, and new values.... Suppose that the quality of higher education and its contribution to our future does not lie primarily in preparing people to compete successfully in a global economy, but rather in preparing people to live responsibly in a global community. Maybe then our most important national indicators of quality are not standardized measures of outcomes, but the quality of our educational processes. What are the processes that enable students to have the experience of problem-solving? The experience of discovery? The experience of creation? The experience of collaboration?" C. Robert Pace is the son of Charles Nelson Pace and Lenore Lee. A sister, Merna Pace Terbell, died in 1963. He is survived by his devoted wife of 73 years, Rosella Gaarder Pace; his daughters Rosalind of Truro, Massachusetts, and Jenifer of Arcata, California; grandsons Erik Paul Pearson (Sonya Hunter) and their daughter Tiara of Oakland CA; and Timothy Pace Pearson (Alexa Elam) of NYC; a niece Susan Terbell Hersey and family; and nephew Joseph B. Terbell, J. and family. Robert Pace was known as a true scholar leading groundbreaking initiatives in higher education. He was a tireless, passionate, principled, and devoted researcher and teacher. Equally well known for his generosity, kindness, and legendary mentorship and guidance, he touched many lives in professional and personal ways. Contributions can be made to Hospice of Humboldt County, or to the non-profit organization of choice. Arrangements under the direction of Paul's Chapel, Arcata, CA 707-822-2445, www.paulschapel.com.

Published in Eureka Times-Standard from February 26 to February 27, 2011

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