In memoriam: Jack C. Merwin

Jack C. Merwin, former dean of the College of Education and former chair and professor emeritus in the Department of Educational Psychology, passed away on July 2 at the age of 92. Merwin was nationally known for being coauthor of the Stanford Achievement Test—a standardized test designed to measure the academic progress of students from kindergarten to grade 12. Colleagues remember him as an “amazing, generous man and true teacher.”

Merwin was born in Woodstock, Illinois on July 9, 1925. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and became a math teacher in an Illinois high school—an experience that would guide his research throughout his career. He returned to the University of Illinois for his master’s and doctorate, earning a position teaching measurement at Syracuse University before joining the University of Minnesota in 1960.

Merwin was a professor at the University of Minnesota for 36 years and dean of the College of Education for seven. During that time, he mentored and advised many American and international PhD graduate students. In 1974, he became one of the first American educators to visit and work with teachers in the People’s Republic of China and continued to partner with the University of Beijing throughout his career.

Upon retirement, Merwin split time between Florida and Minnesota, finally setting in Grand Junction, Colorado where he volunteered at multiple charitable organizations. According to his obituary, helping Alzheimer’s facilities became his favorite volunteer work in his later years right up until the week before he died.

Merwin is survived by his daughter, Margaret “Peg”; brother, Ken; granddaughter, Kory; and great-grandson, Daniel. Gifts in his memory may be made to the Jack C. Merwin Endowment for Educational Measurement, University of Minnesota Foundation.

This post was adapted from Merwin’s obituary in The Woodstock Independent.