J. Douglas Deal, professor of history and director of general education at SUNY Oswego, died in Massachusetts on April 23, 2019. Doug came to SUNY Oswego in 1982 and retired in 2011.
A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Rochester, Doug was at the cutting edge of efforts to change American history in the fields of race and gender. His dissertation, published as "Race and Class in Colonial Virginia: Indians, Englishmen and Africans on the Eastern Shore during the 17th Century," broke new ground. Before joining SUNY Oswego, Doug worked at Cornell University as a curriculum developer for the Organization of American Historians’ Project Restoring Women to History.
During his 30 years at SUNY Oswego, Doug served three terms as chair of the history department, on numerous departmental and collegewide committees, for a decade in Faculty Assembly, as director of general education from 1997 to 2002, and as a faculty fellow attached to the Office of the President.
In the community, he was a trustee of the Oswego County Historical Society, and leader of the SUNY Oswego team providing faculty development to Wayne County teachers of American history under a Teaching American History grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. Behind his extraordinary service was a commitment to liberal arts education as the best education for work and the best preparation for a life well lived.
Admired and respected by his colleagues for his knowledge of history and issues in higher education, Doug was a beloved teacher and generous mentor of faculty and students. His empathy, intellectual curiosity and gift of books enriched the lives of his colleagues.
Doug is survived by his wife Ellen Hornig (hornig@oswego.edu), his son Joseph, and his three daughters, Alexandra, Terri, and Kimberly.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) or the Michael J. Fox Foundation.