Obituary: Ronald Fredrickson, Professor Emeritus of Education

Image

Ronald Harold Fredrickson, 86, of Osage City, Kansas, professor emeritus of education and founder of the Center for School Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation (CSCORE), died Jan. 2.

Born at home on the family farm west of Osage City on June 24, 1931, he graduated from Rapp School, a one-room schoolhouse, attended Miller High School and graduated from Osage City High School in 1949.  He enrolled at Emporia State University, where he was president of the student body and was influential in establishing ESU’s chapter of the Mu Epsilon Nu (MEN) independent and integrated fraternity.  

He served five years in the Navy and another 16 in the Naval Reserve, retiring as captain.

Toward the end of his active duty he became a discipline officer and it was through this work that he decided to work educating counselors, specifically to help young people. He completed graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, earning his Ph.D. in psychology in 1962, and in 1963 began his career on at UMass Amherst in the College of Education.

Over the next three decades he authored numerous research articles, and two books. Much of his work was dedicated to establishing the state mandate requiring school counseling in Massachusetts.

He founded CSCORE to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all children through identifying and developing research-based and effective school counseling practices. In 2012 the center was renamed for him. He retired from the university in 1992.

Following retirement, he and his wife Pat returned to Kansas to help his parents and develop their own diversified farm and cow/calf operation, and they were honored to receive the Master Farmer Award in 2015 in recognition of their environmental stewardship and service to their community.

He was also a member of the Kansas Farm Bureau for more than 40 years and served on the Melvern Lake Watershed Advisory Group and local watershed board. He also helped raise funds to restore Rapp School, which is now a national and state historic site.

His is survived by Pat, his wife of 64 years; his daughter Anne (Sue Zschoche) of Wamego, Kansas; his sister Marlene (Lloyd) Switzer of Ottawa, Kansas; and his brother Duane (Nancy) Fredrickson of Lindsborg, Kansas.