Professor Emeritus Arthur Lewis dies at 89
Professor Emeritus Arthur Lewis, a co-founder of the college’s ProTeach program and educational advisor to developing countries, died Sept. 10 in Jacksonville. He was 89.
Born in Colorado, Lewis began his teaching career in Denver schools. He soon shifted to an administrative track, and served as assistant superintendent for the Minneapolis, Minn. School system. He served as a profe…
Professor Emeritus Vincent McGuire, proponent of school accountability, dies at 87
Professor Emeritus Vincent McGuire, a long-time member of the COE faculty and outspoken proponent of school accountability, died Sept. 4 in Gainesville. He was 87.
In Norman Hall, McGuire was known as a well-loved professor of English education — a position he held for 38 years — and founder of a novel internship program that used student teaching interns as full-time substitutes in Ke…
James Wattenbarger, father of Florida’s community college system
When James Wattenbarger started school at Palm Beach Junior College in the 1930s, community and junior colleges were rare institutions, groping for a role in the academic world.
By the time Wattenbarger retired, two-year colleges were within driving distance of everyone in Florida, training thousands of Floridians for jobs and launching countless college careers – and Wattenbarger h…
Mike Solich, social studies ProTeach student, dies at 22
Mike Solich, a star student in UF’s ProTeach program, died July 6, 2006 in a drowning accident in the Estero River. He was 22.
A native of St. James City, Solich was expected to graduate in August, and had already accepted a position as a social studies teacher at Ida S. Baker High School in Cape Coral.
His professors describe Solich as a passionate idealist who saw the classr…
Robert Primack, Social Foundations professor, dies at 84
Robert Primack, the mid-life career-changer who went on to become a respected member of COE’s faculty, died Aug. 12 in Gainesville. He was 84.
Students knew Primack as a no-nonsense critic of the educational system who urged future teachers to approach their work as “architects” rather than “carpenters.” Gainesville residents knew him as outspoken critic of c…
In memoriam: Hal Lewis, longtime UF and P.K. Yonge educator and crusader for school desegregation
Hal G. Lewis Sr., a Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in education at the University of Florida and a crusader for desegregation of Florida schools and college campuses, died at his daughter’s home in Livermore, Cal., on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2005. He was 97.
Lewis, who lived in Gainesville, also was the principal of P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, the UF College of …