The Arcadia University community mourns the loss of Dr. Les Sdorow, Associate Professor of Psychology and former Chair. Les died over Labor Day weekend after an extended struggle with brain cancer. President Carl (Tobey) Oxholm III ordered the lowering of the Arcadia flag to half-staff in his honor. A memorial service will be held in Grey Towers Castle on Friday, Oct. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Sdorow received his B.A. from Wilkes College and a Ph.D. from Hofstra University. He taught intermittently at Arcadia from 1991-2000 before becoming a full-time member of the Psychology Department in 2000. His entire career was devoted to the promotion of undergraduate education. He was the author of a popular introductory psychology text, co-founder of the Lehigh Valley Undergraduate Psychology Conference, an active mentor of undergraduate research, and Coach of the Men’s Lacrosse Club at Arcadia.

He also was known for his scholarship in the history of psychology, taking particular interest in the accomplishments of women in the field who were often neglected in mainstream texts. At the time of his death, he was working on textbooks both in the history of psychology and in health psychology. Among colleagues, friends, and students, he was especially known for his optimistic, life-affirming spirit. After brain surgery for removal of a tumor, he responded to a well-wisher by saying, “Couldn’t be better; life is good!” Having survived several life-threatening conditions, Sdorow was known to friends in his beloved New Hope as “Timex” because he “took a licking and kept on ticking.”

Sdorow is survived by his partner, Mindy Rosengarten, his stepdaughter, Emily Landgraff, and his brother and sister-in-law, Eric and Connie Sdorow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Chandler Hall (99 Barclay Street, Newtown, PA 18940), the hospice facility in which he received wonderful care during his final days.

A memorial service will be held in Grey Towers Castle on Arcadia’s campus on Friday, Oct. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m.