Helen Thun Hartness dies

Helen Thun Hartness dies

Helen Thun Hartness, professor emerita of education, died May 21, 2000. She retired in 1979 after a 30-year career at Lewis & Clark College. She came to the College in 1949 as associate professor of home economics and helped build Lewis & Clark’s education department.

She established a laboratory preschool for early childhood development classes and taught adolescent and child psychology. She was a member of the Oregon Education Association and was president of its Multnomah County Division. She was president of the Oregon Home Economics Association and was the first president of the Oregon chapter of the National Council of Family Relations. She was state president of Delta Kappa Gamma and a member of Phi Delta Kappa at Lewis & Clark.

She organized Phi Kappa Phi, served as its first president, and was also president of Portland’s Zonta Club and a member of many other organizations. In 1980, she was appointed to the Metropolitan Commission of Youth, and in 1989, she was appointed to Youth Today.

She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Washington State University, which honored her with its Alumni Achievement Award in 1980. She received her doctorate from Oregon State University.