Sheldon Grand

Sheldon Grand passed away on April 20, 2025. He was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1934. As a child, Sheldon was raised by his mother and stepfather, Shirley and Jim DiGangi, along with his stepbrother Pat and stepsister Dolly. 

During the 1950’s, Sheldon attended Brooklyn College, Roosevelt University in Chicago and the University of Buffalo where he completed a Ph.D. in Psychology. Sheldon started his career teaching at Russel1 Sage College, Union College and Albany Medical College. He then served as Chief of the Counseling Psychology Service at the VA Hospital in Albany. In 1966, Sheldon joined the University at Albany faculty and founded the Rehabilitation Counseling Master’s program and wrote the curriculum for a new Ph.D. program in Counseling Psychology. He continued his career in academia for over four decades, serving as Chairman of the Department of Counseling Psychology for much of that time. 

Sheldon loved teaching and mentoring students but never hid the fact that he disliked the pretentious world of academia. Towards the end of his teaching career, he founded and ran Forensic Rehabilitation Services in Albany with his wife Alayne, also a psychologist, serving as experts in lawsuits involving people with disabilities, well into his retirement. 

Sheldon had an aversion to funerals and obituaries as he felt they turned everyone, even the worst of people, into a saint on their death. He was often cynical about many things in life and we hope this obituary will give some insight into Sheldon as a person without the sugar coating, as we know he would have wanted. 

Sheldon lived an intellectual life and enjoyed exploring many subjects in depth, beyond his field of psychology including history, politics and music. He was an avid reader and would delve deep into a subject that interested him. For example, when he discovered an interest in the Civil War, he would read countless books on the Civil War until he felt satisfied that he had a thorough understanding of the conflict from many perspectives. And then he would move on to another subject to delve into. Before he traveled, he would study the region he was about to visit to be sure he understood the history and culture of the people he was visiting. 

He loved to debate and had the confidence to discuss pretty much any subject except business. He had no interest in the business world. He would read the NY Times cover to cover each morning with his coffee but always excluded the business section as he couldn’t care less about it. 

Sheldon had the confidence to question long held beliefs and traditions and respected others who did the same. He would often challenge his doctors during appointments regarding their medical advice and leave convinced the doctor didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. (As he would say: “It’s so rare for students to flunk out of medical school that you must assume that many doctors are either incompetent or just plain lousy.”) He would then seek a second opinion which often confirmed his suspicion. 

You could say he was the opposite of a yes-man and never hesitated to speak his mind if he didn’t like the way he saw people being treated. Throughout much of his life he was focused on the unfortunate way people with disabilities were treated in our society. He used to watch the Jerry Lewis Telethons in the 1970’s and became furious when Jerry would bring a child on stage to be pitied. Later in life, Sheldon focused on the way the elderly were treated in society. 

Sheldon tended to be introverted socially, but nonetheless had strong opinions and didn’t shy away from expressing them. In the 1970’s and 80’s he lived in an overwhelmingly Republican neighborhood at the time but was proud to post a “Dump Reagan” sign on his lawn to the chagrin of his neighbors. 

On a school night, he took his son to the Mohammed Ali – Joe Frazier championship boxing match on closed circuit tv at the Palace Theater in Albany and told his son he should go to school the next day without doing his homework. “Just tell the teacher that there’s more important things in life than school work and if she has a problem with that, she should call me.” In many ways he was the cool dad. 

Throughout his life, it was clear to see how much Sheldon was respected as a teacher and mentor. It seemed wherever he would travel, he would run into former students who would approach him with such admiration and appreciation for the influence he had on their career. While visiting New York, a former student would approach him at Grand Central Station: “Oh my god! Professor Grand? Do you remember me? I was in your class in 1975 and I just have to thank you…” 

After retirement, Sheldon reconnected with his childhood passion playing the accordion. He spent over a year practicing with the help of an accordion teacher and then joined the accordion band Squeeze Play. Over the next decade he loved rehearsing and performing with the band, playing at venues across upstate New York. He loved his time as a musician and would often say that if he could live his life over again and if he had the talent, he would spend his life as a musician and not in academia. 

Sheldon is survived by his two sons from his first marriage to Francine: Earl and his wife Ellen, and Paul and his wife Sherry and his granddaughter Fiona. He is predeceased by his wife Alayne.

Services will be private.