KARL D. HARTZELL ’27
KARL D. HARTZELL, who in 1962 as executive dean in the Albany office of the Central Administration of the New York State University system was sent on assignment for a year as acting chief administrative officer and dean of Arts and Sciences at the new University Center at Stony Brook, and who remained there until his retirement in 1971, died Dec. 6, 2008. He was 102. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he was the nephew of Robert C. Hartzell of the Class of 1902. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Wesleyan and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving a Ph.D. in history at Harvard University he taught at several colleges before joining the New York State War Council, which led to the publication of his book,The Empire State at War: World War II. He then joined the administrative staff at the then–new Brookhaven National Laboratory and from there returned to higher education as a college dean before becoming executive dean of the New York State University system. At Stony Brook he performed the duties of president for three years while a search for a permanent head was continuing, and he remained as administrative officer in the office of the president until he retired, successfully guiding the structure and substance of the new university campus and the development of a comprehensive health sciences center there. After he retired, he concentrated on specialized areas of human thought and experience, which culminated in the publication of his last book, The Laws of the Living: American Values in Action. His first wife, Anna Lomas Hartzell, predeceased him. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Farnum Guibord; three sons, including K. Drew Hartzell Jr. ’60 and Richard L. Hartzell ’65; a granddaughter; and two great–granddaughters.