Robert Latane Hall PhD

Robert Latane Hall of Easton, MD died Thursday, September 19, 2013. He was 89. Born February 25, 1924 in Milledgeville, Georgia, he was the son of James Augustus Hall and Rachel Ernestine Rudd Hall. He grew up in Pleasant Valley, CT and East Hartford, CT, and graduated from Yale University in 1947. He earned a PhD in Sociology and Social Psychology at the University of Minnesota in 1953. In 1957 he married Joyce Evelyn Engelking in San Antonio, TX. For about 3 years in World War II, he served in the Army Air Force, including over a year on a B-29 combat crew. His work career included a series of teaching, research, and administrative jobs in the social and behavioral sciences, especially social psychology. For 5 years, he was a civilian Social Psychologist for the Air Force, conducting research on the performance of combat crews. For 4 years he was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota, with both research and teaching duties. For 3 ½ years, he was a Program Director in the Social Science Division of the National Science Foundation. Then for 22 years, he was on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in a series of positions including many administrative duties, in addition to teaching and research. Over the years he has participated in social psychological research on matters such as small-group interaction, rumor and other communication processes, social influence, attitude formation and change. In 1987 he retired from UIC and moved to Maryland to make Chesapeake sailing his principal retirement activity. His 42-year marriage to Joy Goodwin Hall was ended by her death from metastatic breast cancer in 1999. They had three children and four grandchildren. His volunteer activities have included creating and directing a Hospice program (known as the “Return to Laughter” program) to help the bereaved through their transition, making therapeutic use of humor. He is survived by his son Jeffrey Beck Hall; daughters Annalisa Hall and Karen Linda Hall; a grandson, Lawrence Suter; granddaughters Rachel, Hester and Josamine Suter; a brother, William Hall; sister Mary Lou Dabbs, and longtime sweetheart Lydia Morrow of Annapolis, MD. A memorial including an ice cream social will be held at Londonderry Retirement Center, 700 Port St, Easton, MD, on Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 2:00 PM. Contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 2366, Easton, MD 21601.

Robert Latane Hall PhD

February 25, 1924 - September 19, 2013