Remembering Lois Stein, SSD Dean of Students from 1992-2006

Lois Stein, who served as SSD’s Assistant Dean of Students from 1987-1992 and then as Dean of Students from 1992-2006, passed away December 5, 2024, at the age of 85. Alumni, faculty, and staff remember her fondly, as the remembrances immediately below illustrate. Our appreciation to her family for their permission to reprint her obituary, which follows those remembrances.   

I came to know Lois Stein when I encountered a challenge in my path to completing my degree in the Sociology doctoral program. Nearly twenty-five years later, while I cannot recall the specifics of my first conversation with her about that issue, I can remember clearly the anxiety and uncertainty I felt when I walked into Lois’ office and the sense of calm and direction I felt an hour later after I talked to her. Lois reacted to my situation with concern, empathy and a clear sense of direction, laying a clear path for me to degree completion. I was struck by the clarity of her thinking, her integrity, and her unique blend of kindness and toughness. I went to see Lois to thank her when I successfully graduated with my PhD. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is likely I would not have completed my degree without her involvement and support. Lois was an advocate and a guide in a critical moment in my graduate school experience and inspired me in her approach as a courageous, wise and kind leader. Lois had an important influence on my life and I am tremendously grateful to her. – Sara Ray Stoelinga, AB'95, MA'01, PhD'04

Quite simply, Lois was the best boss I ever had and will ever have. I was her Associate Dean of Students in SSD from 1998-2006 and can say unequivocally that those were the most enjoyable and satisfying years of my professional life. To say I learned a lot from her would fall woefully short of the truth; my career in student services has been shaped almost entirely by her example. She worked unbelievably hard for the division and its students. I can’t remember an occasion when I arrived at work before her, and she was often in her office well into the evenings. She was incredibly generous with her time, even if helping solve others’ problems added hours to her own workday. Nor did she suffer fools gladly! Her standards were high and so were her expectations. She taught me the virtues of precision, order, and sheer doggedness which have served me well in all subsequent institutional settings. When I left the office to work on the east coast, she had three pieces of advice: “Data integrity, data integrity, data integrity!” I still smile at that! – Tim Blackman

I was extraordinarily fortunate to have Lois as the Dean of Students through my eight years as dean.  She was a model of wisdom, consistency, and strength of character in a role in which her decisions were challenged by students and faculty alike. She also was such a deep source of empathy that she was one of the first people I looked to for counsel in my own personal difficulties.  The Social Sciences Division and I owe her profound gratitude for her contributions. – Richard Saller, Dean of SSD, 1994-2002

Lois was an outstanding colleague to the faculty and staff, a helpful and sympathetic counselor to students, and an alert leader in her role as dean of students. She was firm, fair, contemplative, and imperturbable, and a wise, warm human being who took pride in her work, who took pleasure in the accomplishments of the students, and who enjoyed a good laugh. – Mark Hansen, Charles L. Hutchinson Distinguished Service Professor, Dean of SSD 2002-2012

Lois was the Dean of Students in the Social Sciences when I began working at UChicago in 2003. She was tough, but fair. She had a great sense of humor and seemed to know something about everything. Lois always supported her staff, and her friendliness, wisdom, patience, competence, compassion, and dedication made us all want to support her. I can't imagine beginning my career under a better leader. – Brett Baker, Associate Dean of Students

Obituary

Lois Ann Stein, of Phoenix, devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, died peacefully, surrounded by family, on December 5, 2024.  She was 85.

Lois was born to Philip and Irene (West) Smith in Oklahoma City on August 11, 1939.  Shortly thereafter, the family moved north to La Porte, IN, where Lois grew up with her brother and sister.

Always a good student, Lois excelled at Purdue University, earning her B.A. in Spanish and French with Highest Distinction in 1961, leading to a Fulbright grant to study at the University of Madrid, Spain for the 1961-62 school year.   Knowing then that she was destined for a life in higher education, she entered graduate study in Spanish at Brown University, where she earned an M.A. in 1965, and passed her doctoral examination a year later.  What followed was a 40-year career in college teaching and university administration, highlighted by two long-term productive roles at very different but significant academic institutions.

For ten years, Lois taught Spanish language and literature at Cornell College, in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she and her friend and (only) colleague, Sally Clute, built a unique small-college Spanish program with course offerings stronger in scope and quality than those offered by many universities. They were the first at Cornell to take student groups to Mexico, and they initiated a variety of campus activities such as Spanish Club, weekly Spanish-language social hours, and an annual Spanish-language theatrical production, all of which, at the time, were highly innovative. The resulting active and popular language program attracted many majors who went on to work in teaching and a wide variety of other fields.

Lois’s major academic achievement lay in the contributions she made at the University of Chicago, where she served first as Assistant Dean of Students (1987-92) and then as Dean of Students (1992-2006) in the Graduate Division of the Social Sciences.   As Dean, she oversaw admissions and the awarding of financial aid to master’s and doctoral students from the U.S. and around the world, and provided the guidance and counseling that those students needed to get through demanding academic programs.

Very quickly, Lois gained respect throughout the University for her acute professional judgment.  One eminent professor and national TV commentator testified to that approval when he remarked, at the beginning of a particularly complex, sensitive disciplinary hearing, that "Lois is a god." Hyperbole (slight), perhaps, but he was recognizing that all concerned—faculty, administrators, students—could rely on Lois’s knowledge of the rules and her keen practical and moral sense in applying them.

Accomplished professionally as she was, her family remembers Lois first and foremost as a warm and loving wife and mother—and an excellent cook—whose wisdom, moral sense, humor and practicality made life a joy for all.  Her mind was so alert it was astonishing.  She absorbed everything, voraciously consuming news, literature, and cultural and culinary experiences The first time the family played Trivial Pursuit, she answered every question and won the game in her first turn.  Thereafter, her opponents suspected that the wife and mother missed some answers just to give others a chance. Yes, Professor, to her family, too, Lois was a god.

Lois is survived by her husband of 60 years, Harvey; sons Joel (Jill Heilman) of Mesa, AZ and Jonathan (Jessica) of Culver City, CA; and granddaughter Taryn Heilman of Mesa.  She is also mourned by her brother, Roger Smith (Sue), of La Porte, IN and sister, Doris Dubra, of Moosup, CT, and ten nieces and nephews and their children.   A celebration of life will be held in the coming months. Contributions in Lois’s memory may be made to the Sjogren’s Foundation or the Alzheimer’s Association.