Dear Falk College Faculty and Staff,
It is with great sadness that I share the following news. Dr. Harlan London, a former chair of the Department of Child and Family Studies (now the Department of Human Development and Family Science), passed away Dec. 19. The Falk College community is deeply saddened by the loss of Harlan, who spent 24 years as a professor at Syracuse University, retired as an advisor for diversity in the curriculum at Syracuse, and worked with his wife of 54 years – Syracuse University alumna and City of Syracuse teacher Dr. Arcenia Phillips London – on instructing teachers how to teach with an emphasis on diversity.
“He was a gentle giant who taught some of the early courses on diverse family systems,” says Jaipaul Roopnarine, Pearl S. Falk Professor of Human Development and Family Science who worked with Dr. London as a young faculty member. “Above all, he was a very kind and caring person who always displayed humility and compassion.”
Harlan’s life is captured beautifully in the obituary published by the Burns-Garfield Funeral Home in Syracuse. Our hearts are with Harlan’s family and friends as they mourn the loss of a loving husband and father, and a devoted educator whose legacy will live on through the thousands of his former students who share his compassion for others.
Sincerely,
Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Dean, Falk College