Volume 61, Number 25    March 10, 2014         

Jack Fraenkel
Professor Emeritus of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education Jack Fraenkel passed away on the evening of Jan. 24, after entering hospice. Fraenkel's long and distinguished career in the Graduate College of Education at SF State spanned the fields of social science education and research methodology.

Born in 1932 in Nebraska, Jack Fraenkel served as a navigator in the US Air Force. He subsequently received his Ph.D. at Stanford University and came to SF State in 1966, where he worked under internationally known researcher Hilda Taba developing and disseminating innovative approaches to social science education. In 1997, he received the James A. Michener Prize for his writings about the social studies and the social sciences. Fraenkel was also active in the field of research methodology and became Director of the Research and Development Center of the College of Education, where for more than a decade he advised and assisted faculty and students in generating and developing research. In that capacity he edited and published the peer-reviewed journal, College of Education Review, and helped kick-start the funding of numerous grants within the College of Education. Fraenkel wrote or edited more than 40 books and more than 125 articles on topics in research design, statistics, curriculum and instruction. Together with his colleagues, Professors Norman E. Wallen and Helen H. Hyun, he authored, How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education (McGraw-Hill). Now in its ninth edition, the book is widely used nationally and internationally for training educational researchers. In addition to his research and writing, Fraenkel was also a gifted and engaged teacher, who relished his work with undergraduates in his quantitative reasoning courses.

Fraenkel, who retired in 2011, was a valued colleague and a national voice in social science education and research methodologies. His important contributions helped to develop the national profile for the Graduate College of Education. He will be missed.

A memorial service reception will be held Wednesday, March 12 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Vista Room (BH 401). RSVP by e-mail to Anarose Schelstrate or call ext. 8-1479.

1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132 415/338-1111
Last modified March 6, 2014 by University Communications.