UConn Advance - September 26, 2005 - Retired family studies professor dies

Howard Rosencranz, professor emeritus of family studies, died Sept. 8.

Rosencranz, who lived in Mystic, joined the UConn faculty in 1969. He held a joint appointment in the rural sociology and sociology departments. He developed and taught the the University’s first undergraduate and graduate courses in gerontology, and in 1972, was appointed director of the gerontology program. In 1975, he became a member of the human development and family relations faculty, while continuing a joint appointment in sociology. He retired in 1985.

He received his master’s degree at Michigan State University, and taught for nine years before earning his Ph.D. there in sociology and anthropology. He held a joint appointment in the sociology and psychology departments at the University of Missouri, where he helped initiate a doctoral program in social psychology.

Rosencranz’s publication, Aging in Connecticut: A Fact Book (1971), drew attention to many of the problems associated with aging in the state. He wrote a number of book chapters, monographs, and reviews .

From 1976 to 1978, he was on the editorial board of the Journal of Educational Gerontology, an international quarterly. He was state delegate to the White House Conference on Aging, and participated in advocacy groups including the Connecticut Society for Gerontology and the Connecticut Council for Senior Citizens.

Rosencranz administered various grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the Connecticut State Department on Aging, the Office of Education, and the Administration on Aging.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mary Lou, a professor emerita of family studies.

Donations may be made in memory of Howard A. Rosencranz for a purpose to be designated by his wife. Checks should be made payable to the University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc. and mail to 2390 Alumni Drive, Storrs, CT 06269-3206.

Donations may also be made to the Salvation Army.