Daniel Robert Eignor

WEST AMWELL - Daniel Robert Eignor, 65, a Principal Psychometrician at Educational Testing Service and Past President of the National Council on Measurement in Education, died peacefully at home on Friday, May 25, 2012, after a short illness.
Dr. Eignor had been a resident of West Amwell Township for more than 30 years. Born on Dec. 5, 1946, in White Plains, N.Y., he was the son of Katherine and Robert Eignor.
Dr. Eignor attended public schools in Walden, N.Y., and graduated from Manhattan College with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, with honors, in 1969. He continued his study of mathematics at SUNY, Albany, where he received a master's degree in 1971. He was employed as a teacher of mathematics and science at Valley Central High School in Montgomery, N.Y., from 1971 to 1974. After three years of teaching, Dr. Eignor continued his graduate education at the University of Massachusetts, where he received his Ed.D. in Measurement and Statistics in 1979.
Dr. Eignor joined Educational Testing Service in the fall of 1978 as a Statistical Associate in the Center for Occupational and Professional Assessment. During his tenure at ETS he had numerous roles and served as a psychometrician for testing programs such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the SAT. More recently, he had served as editor for the ETS Research Report Series. Dr. Eignor was internationally known for his research in computer-based testing and the development of concordance tables. He played a critical role in the implementation of computer-based testing for a number of ETS testing programs, in particular for TOEFL. He also mentored many young professionals throughout his career.
Dr. Eignor was active in a number of professional organizations, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Council of Measurement in Education (NCME). He served as editor from 1998–2001 for the Journal of Educational Measurement (JEM), a flagship publication of the NCME. Dr. Eignor served on NCME's Board of Directors from 2005–2008 and was President of the organization from 2006–2007. From 1992–1998, Dr. Eignor was the chair of the important NCME Standards and Test Use Committee, and served as the NCME liaison to the Joint Committee on Revising the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. At the time of his illness, he was engaged as editor of the most recent version of the Standards, which are scheduled for publication in 2013.
Dr. Eignor has received numerous awards, including the 2004 ETS Presidential Award and the ETS Psychometrician Award, which he received in 2010 as recognition of his contributions to ETS over a career of more than 30 years. As a special honor, the President of ETS, Kurt Landgraf, has created the Eignor Editorship as a way of honoring and acknowledging Dr. Eignor's contributions to the quality of the research reports, articles, and books that have been disseminated during his tenure as editor.
Dr. Eignor was an avid sports fan who particularly enjoyed watching college basketball. When he was younger he enjoyed running and was a member of the Mercer Bucks Running Club. He loved both popular and classical music and regularly attended performances of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera. His hobbies included reading and gardening.
Dr. Eignor is survived by his wife of 25 years, Linda Cook; his sister, Diana Eignor, and her husband, Michael Powell, of Sykesville, Md.; his stepson, Peter Cook, and Peter's son Ethan, of Chicago; his sister-in-law, Carol Perry of Dothan, Ala., and her daughters, Judi, also of Dothan, and Diane, of Tampa, Fla.; and his beloved canine friends, Pablo and Pepe.
The funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday ( May 31) at Wilson-Apple Funeral Home, 2560 Pennington Road, Pennington. Burial will take place immediately after the service at Harbourton Cemetery. Calling hours will be Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
The family invites your contributions to either the American Cancer Society (www.https://www.cancer.org/involved/donate/donateonlinenow/index) or The Hospice Memorial Fund, Princeton Healthcare System Foundation, 253 Witherspoon Street, Suite 1, Princeton, NJ, 08540 (https://www.princetonhcs.org/phcs-home/what-we-do/princeton-healthcare-system-foundation/make-a-gift-now/online-gift-form.aspx).
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