Obituary of Dewey B. Stuit

Memorial services will be held at 2:00pm Saturday, January 19, 2008, at Oaknoll Recreation Room in Iowa City. Memorial contributions may be made to the University of Iowa Foundation, Oaknoll Foundation, or the First Presbyterian Church. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web at www.gayandciha.com. Velma E. and Dewey B. Stuit Velma E. Stuit died November 20, 1997 at Oaknoll Retirement Center. Velma received her Bachlor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois in 1933. She was the President of the University Club, where she was named Woman of the Year. She was a member of the American Association of University Women. Along with a close friend, she organized and started the Newcomers Club as well as the International Women’s Club. She enjoyed working as a volunteer at Mercy Hospital and Children’s Hospital School. She kept active entertaining faculty members and also helping new faculty members find housing. During WWII she worked as a civilian in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, while her husband was in the Navy. Dewey B. Stuit, 98, of Iowa City died Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at Oaknoll Retirement Residence. His body was donated to the College of Medicine per his request. Dewey B. Stuit was born in Garden Plain Township, Whiteside County, Illinois on January 24, 1909, the son of Bernie and Grace (Temple) Stuit. He received his elementary education in a two-room country school and graduated from Fulton, Illinois High School in 1927. He received three degrees from the University of Illinois; B.S. in 1931, M.S. in 1932, and a Ph.D. in 1934 in educational psychology and educational research. He married Velma Elizabeth Pottorf on September 5, 1934, in Champaign, Illinois. He taught at Carleton College from 1934 to 1936, at the University of Nebraska from 1936 to 1938, and joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at Iowa in August of 1938 as Associate Professor and Director of the Entrance Testing Program. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to May 1946, mostly as an Assistant Direct, Test and Research section, Bureau of Naval Personnel. He returned to Iowa in May, 1946, as Professor of Psychology and Director of the newly established Student Counseling office. In the fall of 1947 he was appointed Dean of Student-Personnel Services, in November 1948, acting Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Dean on July 1, 1949, a position he held until his retirement on June 30, 1977. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma XI, Fellow, American Psychological Association, Midwestern Psychological Association, co-founder and President (1951-1952) of the Iowa Psychological Association, the American College Personnel Association, the American Board of Professional Psychology, the Iowa Academy of Science and Presidents-Club, University of Iowa Foundation. He served on committees of a number of organizations including the Office of Naval Research, the U.S. Office of Education, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the American Council on Education. He was the editor and co-author of two books in the field of personnel psychology and published numerous articles in various educational and psychological journals. He received a distinguished service award from the Iowa Psychological Association in 1984 and from the Iowa Department of Psychology in May, 1991. In 1997, the Stuit Professorship of Psychology was established to recognize the contribution made by Dewey and Velma Stuit to the Department of Psychology, the College of Liberal Arts and the University at large. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Dewey’s family and his services.