4 The RAPS Sheet September 2021 In memoriam: Robert Everhart, 1940-2021 ROBERT B. EVERHART, who served Portland State as dean of the College of Education from 1986 to 1998, died July 10 of complications from dementia. He was 80 years old. Dean Everhart was born in Pittsburgh and grew up near Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. During summers he worked on his grandfather’s farm and later worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad to make money for college. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio, in 1962, Dean Everhart was accepted into Navy Officer Candidate School. He graduated as an ensign and was deployed to Vietnam on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. After four years in the Navy, he moved to Eugene to begin work on his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Oregon, financing his studies with the G.I. Bill and by teaching middle school. He received his Ph.D. in 1972 and moved to Puyallup, Washington, to begin work for the Northwest Educational Research Lab and the University of Washington. He then joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as an assistant professor. Dean Everhart remained at Santa Barbara for 10 years, earning promotion to full professor. In 1985 he became dean of the College of Education at Portland State, serving for 12 years before his retirement in 1998 and becoming the longest-serving dean in the college’s history. In a remembrance published on the Portland State website, Dean Everhart was credited with leading the creation of the Portland Teachers Program (PTP), which helped address the need for more primary teachers of color. A collaborative effort that was launched in 1989 after a two-year planning process, the PTP included Portland State, Portland Community College, Portland Public Schools, and the Beaverton School District. Mary Kinnick, professor emerita of education and assistant dean from 1986 to 1989, called Dean Everhart “the guiding light behind the establishment of the PTP. He felt strongly that it is essential for teachers to reflect the racial diversity of their students.” Cheryl Livneh, professor emerita and an associate dean of the College of Education and the Division of Continuing Education, recalled that “Bob drove the development of the School of Education’s own continuing education programs. We ultimately offered programs around the state. This not only generated thousands of student credit hours, which generated funding for the school, it also expanded our connections and influence throughout Oregon.” Dean Everhart was also instrumental in expanding the college’s focus on research, attracting outstanding faculty, and creating a program that made small grants to support faculty research, accomplishments recognized by his faculty colleagues. Rick Hardt, professor emeritus, remembered Dean Everhart as a “great administrator/member-of-theteam type, always positive and supportive.” Another professor emeritus, William Greenfield, described Dean Everhart as a “classic scholar-administrator, recognized nationally by his peers.” In another remembrance, written by Professor Emeritus Thomas Chenoweth and published on the College of Education’s website, Dean Everhart was praised as “an exemplary professor and an even better person. His accomplishments in the fields of scholarship, teaching, and community service were exceptional.” Professor Chenoweth described Reading, Writing and Resistance: Adolescence and Labor in a Junior High School, Dean Everhart’s 1983 ethnography of student life in an American junior high, as “one of the richest and most insightful descriptions of junior high school life ever written.” Dean Everhart enjoyed the outdoors with his wife, Shelley. The couple met in Santa Barbara and married in 1987. They joined the Mazamas, climbed several peaks in the Pacific Northwest, and participated in numerous backpacking trips. They also ran the Hood to Coast, many 10Ks, biked Cycle Oregon, skied with the Cascade Prime Timers, kayaked in the Sea of Cortez, cycled in Europe, and traveled extensively. Dean Everhart is survived by his wife, Shelley, of Portland; daughters Ina Everhart, Nyssa Everhart, and Toby Everhart; three grandchildren, Lea, Gavin, and Willow; and sisters Martha Fahlberg and Mimi Simmons. A memorial service will be held at a later date at St. Luke Lutheran Church. A celebration of life will be held at Portland State. Remembrances may be sent to College of Education Pathways for Diverse Educators (Fund 8300120), PSU Foundation, PO Box 243, Portland, OR 97207 or to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org/give. Online condolences may be sent to: https://crowncremationburial.com/tribute/details/19535/RobertEverhart/obituary A guest book is available at www.oregonlive.com/obits. PSU Archives Digital Gallery 1986
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