Retired Psychology
Department faculty member remembered for collegiality, friendship
CONWAY,
Arkansas (September 14, 2023)—The Hendrix College community is saddened by the September 11 passing of Dr. Christopher Spatz, a Hendrix
College alumnus of the Class of 1962 who taught in the Department of Psychology
from 1973 to 2003. He was 83.
Chris Spatz graduated from Hendrix alongside his spouse, Thea Siria Spatz,
then went on to earn his M.S. and Ph.D. from Tulane University. After having
taught a few years at other institutions, he learned of an opening in the Psychology
Department at his undergraduate alma mater. He joined the faculty
Hendrix in 1973 and spent the next three decades teaching a variety of topics
including general psychology, statistics, research methods, and biological
psychology.
Dr. Ralph McKenna, who retired from the Psychology Department in 2010,
recalls meeting Spatz 47 years ago. They became friends almost from the moment
Spatz picked him up at the airport for his interview visit to Hendrix.
“Chris
had arranged a wonderful dinner in my honor, way beyond the usual search
committee interview I had come to expect,” McKenna said. “Chris had brought
together faculty couples and administration members for our wonderful evening
meal held at a large, old Southern home on Robinson Avenue. The rest of my
Hendrix interview followed a pattern similar to what Chris established that
evening.” The two even went on to become doubles tennis partners, which McKenna
now views as “a metaphor for my relationship with Chris.”
“Chris
and I worked side by side in the Mills Center; we traveled together to meetings
of the Arkansas Symposium for Psychology Students; we co-mentored some of our
best psychology majors, helping them gain acceptance to excellent graduate
schools,” he said.
Spatz was the author of Exploring Statistics: Tales of
Distributions, a popular college textbook first published in 1976. In 2015,
seeking a more student-friendly sale price for the book, he and Thea
established Outcrop Publishers to revise, publish, and market the 11th
and 12th editions.
Dr. Jennifer Peszka, Virginia A. McCormick Pittman Distinguished
Professor of Psychology, who is among the group of scholars now working to publish
the 13th edition of Exploring Statistics through Outcrop, recalls
Spatz as a supportive and nonjudgmental colleague who helped her refine her own
approach to teaching.
“He never said, ‘This is how you’re supposed to do it’ or ‘It would be
better if you did it this way,’” she said. “Instead, he helped me find my way
to teach it.”
Peszka recalls Spatz stopping by her office door to chat one day early
in her career as she was doing some frantic last-minute preparation for a class:
“I said, ‘Chris, I can’t talk about this now, I’m freaking out, I’m getting
ready for class still and it starts in five minutes,’ and he said, ‘Cancel your
class and get yourself together. Those students are getting their money’s worth
from you.’ Then he hollered out to one of my students who was walking to my class
and said… ‘Laura Smith! Are you getting your money’s worth from Dr. Peszka’s
class?’ and she vigorously endorsed that she was. I didn’t cancel my class, but
I did get Chris’s message that doing a good job is important but not breaking
your neck to do it was also important. Chris always modeled hard and dedicated
work, but a reasonable balance in life.”
Dr. Kim Maslin, a politics professor, officed next door to Spatz when
she began teaching at Hendrix. She recalls moving into that space with her five-year-old
son, Kyle, in tow. From that day forward, she experienced her office neighbor
as “very encouraging and a supremely calming presence.”
“I
was unpacking boxes and organizing my office. Kyle was basically hiding under
the bench in the hallway. At one point, I heard this distinctly older voice,”
she said. “I came out of my office and there was Spatz lying down on his back
on the floor, talking to Kyle, who was still hiding under the bench. He looked
up and said, ‘Well, hello there, neighbor’ – with his characteristic chuckle. My
whole body relaxed and I remember thinking, ‘If my senior colleague is willing
to get down on the floor to put my five-year-old at ease, this is going to work
out just fine.’”
The family invites all alumni, faculty, staff, and friends to a
reception on Friday evening, September 15, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in The Dawkins
Welcome Center on the Hendrix campus.
A memorial service for Spatz is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, September
16, at First United Methodist Church of Conway. Gifts in his memory to First UMC,
UMCOR, Hendrix
College, Norbert Schedler Honors College, or Ozark Society are appreciated.
Listen: If These
Bricks Could Talk podcast episode featuring Spatz, recorded
April 30, 2021.