Norbert O. Schedler
Dr. Norbert Schedler, founder of the UCA Honors College passed away this past Sunday.
A memorial service will be held in Norb’s honor at the First United Methodist Church on Saturday, June 8 at 1 p.m. All are welcome to attend. An additional memorial service will be held for students, alumni, and the university community in the early fall.
A brief biography of Schedler, written by Dr. Patricia Smith, interim dean of the Schedler Honors College, and Jimmy Bryant, director of the UCA Archives, is below:
Dr. Norbert “Norb” Oscar Schedler, founder of the UCA Honors College, left this life peacefully on Sunday morning, May 26, 2019. He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease and multiple myeloma for many years.
Norb is survived by his wife of 60 years, Carol, his daughter Karen Strossner (Jeff), his daughter RuthAnne, and son David (Lee). He and Carol have six grandchildren: David Strossner, Laura Strossner Wooten (Will), Brennen Schedler, Ryan Oliver, and Margaret and Lukas Schedler. He is also survived by two younger brothers, Gilbert and Kenneth, both of California. He is preceded in death by his parents, Reverend Oscar Schedler and Margaret Bart Schedler, and his two older sisters, Peg Ruemmele and Ruth Dunn.
Norb received his undergraduate degree from the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri and then completed graduate studies at Princeton University where he received his Ph.D. in philosophy. His first teaching assignment was at Concordia Senior College in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He subsequently taught at Purdue University where he chaired the Philosophy Department. He and his family moved to Conway, Arkansas in 1976 after he accepted a position as chairman of the Philosophy Department at UCA. He received national awards and distinctions for his scholarship and service to professional organizations.
In 1981, Norb and then UCA President Jefferson Farris, Jr., started the Honors College to serve the “severely gifted” students of Arkansas. Norb served as the founding director of the program. In 2013, the Honors College was dedicated in his name and is now known as the Norbert O. Schedler Honors College.
Honors at UCA has developed a national reputation for its many accomplishments. As the first honors college in the state and one of the first in the country, the Schedler Honors College has inspired numerous start-up honors programs and a growing number of honors colleges. Since its inception, the Honors College has seen nearly 1,800 students complete its curriculum. More than 80 percent of Honors graduates pursued post-baccalaureate education.
“The greatest joy in my academic life is to see the expression on a student’s face when she discovers just how good she is and when these students flourish in sites all over the world, in professional school, graduate school, business, in all walks of life. And to know that the sun never sets on Honors College alumni working all over the world for the common good.” -Norbert O. Schedler
