Albert H. Hastorf III ’42

Deceased September 26, 2011

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In Memory

Al Hastorf died in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 26, 2011.

Al was born in New York City and grew up in Westfield, N.J. He came to Amherst in 1938 and joined Phi Psi. He was manager of the wrestling team and participated in freshman soccer, the Christian association and the college band.

Several months after graduation, Al entered the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was sent to the University of Minnesota to study psychology in the Army Specialized Training Program. While there in 1943, he married Barbara Reck, Mount Holyoke ’43; it was the start of a happy 68-year marriage. Al’s principal military duties involved testing and classifying prospective crew members to determine whether they should be trained as pilots, navigators or bombardiers.

Upon release from military service in 1946, Al went to Princeton University to obtain an M.A. (1947) and Ph.D. (1948) in psychology. He then joined the psychology department at Dartmouth in 1948, becoming a full professor and the head of the department in 1955.

Both Al and Barbara enjoyed life at Dartmouth, but an offer from Stanford University in 1961 induced them to move west. During the next 30 years, Al held various academic and administrative posts. He was chair of the psychology department, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, director of the business school’s executive program and finally, from 1980 to 1984, he served as vice president and provost of the university.

Although Al retired in 1990, he continued to teach occasional freshman seminars, and he and Barbara endowed the Hastorf Family Fund and the Albert and Barbara Hastorf Teaching Fund. Al’s extensive services to Stanford resulted in his receiving several prestigious awards. The inscription on the Stanford Alumni Association’s Richard A. Lyman Award cited Al “for the joy he brings to every branch of the Stanford family as the quintessential university citizen and ambassador of good will.”

Al is survived by his wife, two daughters and a grandson.

Ted Heisler ’42