Obituaries : Earl V. Pullias; Former President of County Board of Education

Earl V. Pullias, a former dean at Pepperdine College and professor at USC who served three terms as president of the Los Angeles County Board of Education, has died. He was 87.

Pullias died of a cerebral hemorrhage at his Los Angeles home Aug. 20, USC announced Monday.

An expert on higher education, Pullias wrote several books. The most popular was “A Teacher Is Many Things,” which was translated into nine languages. His other books included “A Search for Understanding,” “Toward Excellence in College Teaching” and “A Common Sense Philosophy for Modern Man: A Search for Fundamentals.”

Pullias earned his bachelor’s degree from Cumberland University in his native Tennessee, a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from Duke University.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1940, he began teaching at USC as a visiting professor while serving as dean of faculty at Pepperdine College. After 17 years at Pepperdine, he switched permanently to USC, teaching there from 1957 until his retirement in 1977.

Pullias was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Education from 1954 to 1977 and served as president from 1956 to 1957, 1962 to 1963 and 1967 to 1968.

He also sat on the California Commission on Higher Education from 1960 to 1966 and was chairman from 1963 to 1966.

The Pullias Lectureship, established in his honor in 1978, annually brings a nationally recognized scholar to USC for an academic dialogue on education.

“Dr. Pullias cared more about teaching and learning than anyone I’ve ever met,” said Tom Garrison, a former student and the current chairman of the lectureship committee. “He was genuinely interested in each and every one of his students, and we all knew it.”

Pullias is survived by a son, Calvin.

Memorial donations can be sent to the Pullias Lectureship Fund, USC School of Education, WPH 1103, Los Angeles 90089-0031.