Roger M. Lind

1924 - 2016
Roger M. Lind, 92, of Amherst, Mass., died Thursday, October 13, 2016, at the Atrium of Agawam.

Born August 4, 1924, in St. Paul, Minn., Roger was the son of Jennie (Skoglund) Lind and Olaf Milton Lind. He spent his childhood in St. Paul and New York, NY, and his youth in Minneapolis, Minn., where he met and married Joanne Dyste in 1945.

Roger received a bachelor's degree from Yale University in the class of 1945W, attending as a full scholarship student and holding three work-study jobs. Roger took time off from college to serve in the Navy during WWII. In 1949 and 1950, Roger and Joanne studied in Sweden. There he familiarized himself with his Swedish heritage and became fluent in Swedish. Later, he returned to the University of Michigan to earn a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1963. Following his work with the United Nations as Social Welfare Advisor to the City of Lagos, Nigeria, he returned to the University of Michigan as a Professor of Social Work.

In 1965, Roger was one of about a dozen U of M faculty who led the first all night "Teach-in" against the Vietnam War, attended by about 3,500 people.[i] The U of M teach-in received national press and inspired 35 other teach-ins on college campuses within the next week. Roger served as Vice-Chair of the U of M Faculty Senate Committee (SACUA) from 1970 to 1971 (member 1968-1971).[ii]

Later, Roger joined the School of Social Work faculty at the University of Wisconsin Madison,[iii] became Dean of the School of Social of Work at the University of Louisville, and subsequently was asked to develop a new School of Social Work for Springfield College, Mass., which has since grown and flourished.[iv] Roger taught social work policy and authored or edited a number of books on social policy in the U.S. and other countries.[v],[vi] Over the years, Roger continued to travel to Sweden where he lectured in Swedish at Stockholm University.

Roger was warm and kind. His genius was that others wanted to bring their problems to him. He inspired people to pull together to create the best possible organization. Memorial contributions may be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org), dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, or to Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity (pvhabitat.org).

Roger was predeceased by his wife of 67 years, Joanne, his brother, Vincent, his sister, Ruth, and his daughter, Kristin. He is survived by his brother, Douglass; his children Keith, Meredith and Marc; and his grandchildren Eric and Kirsten.