In Memoriam

John R. McNair, professor emeritus in the Department of English at UNC Charlotte, died on November 3, 2020, in Wilmington, North Carolina. McNair played an instrumental role in founding the English Department’s offerings in technical communication.

The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences mourns the death of Dr. Tyrel (Tink) Moore, professor emeritus in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, who passed away on Sept. 14, 2020 at Northlake House in Charlotte. A scholar of the South, Moore joined the faculty at UNC Charlotte in 1982 and retired in 2017.

Frederik N. Smith, a retired professor and former chair of the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at UNC Charlotte, died on March 19, 2020.

Dr. H. Leon Gatlin III, a retired professor in the Department of English at UNC Charlotte, died on October 3, 2019. “The English Department lost a friend, a former colleague, and a link to the department’s origin story,” department Chair Mark West said.

Dr. Louis Diamant (Lou), professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, died at home in Charlotte on November 23, 2018. In 1963, when the University was still Charlotte College and consisted of only two buildings, Diamant became the founding chairperson of the Psychology Department.

Dr. Mary T. Harper, who played a pivotal role in mentoring and teaching students at UNC Charlotte, developing African American studies at the university, and in preserving the African American story in the Charlotte community, died on October 1, 2020.

Edward S. Perzel, 81, professor emeritus in the UNC Charlotte Department of History, passed away on June 16, 2020, in Bristol, Tenn. Perzel served as chair of the Department of History, president of the faculty at the university, and associate dean of what was then called the College of Arts and Sciences.

Longtime UNC Charlotte professor Dr. Susan Cernyak-Spatz passed away on Nov. 17, 2019. Born in Vienna, Austria, Spatz survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, as well as the death march, during the Holocaust. She taught German language and literature in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies, and was instrumental in the creation of Holocaust studies at UNC Charlotte.

Dr. Robert Gleaves, associate professor emeritus in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies, passed away on August 16, 2019. You […]

Sue Spaulding, long-time member of the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, died suddenly on December 5, 2018. An avid and fearless traveler, she was doing what she loved most—cruising the sunny tropics. She was hired as Lab Director in 1993 and served the department in a variety of roles until her retirement in 2014.