Stolz, Lois Meek, 1894-1984

Lois Meek Stolz earned her A.B. at George Washington University in 1921 and her Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1925. She served as education secretary of the AAUW and taught at Columbia prior to 1938, when she married Dr. Herbert R. Stolz and moved to California. During World War II she was the Director of Child Service Centers for the Kaiser Shipyards in Portland. Stolz joined the Stanford faculty in 1947 as professor of psychology. After becoming emerita in 1957, she worked on the Communication and Child Care Project at Stanford.

Lois Meek Stolz taught psychology at Stanford University from 1947 to 1957. She was married to Herbert R. Stolz, whose sister Mary Rosalie Stolz graduated from Stanford University in January 1906.

Dr. Stolz was with the Teachers College, Columbia University, from 1929-1939; she headed the Dept. of Child Development and Guidance, 1936-1939. From 1947 to 1957 she was professor of psychology, Stanford University. Herbert Rowell Stolz received his medical degree from Stanford University in 1914. From 1926 to 1934, he was director of the Institute of Child Welfare, University of California, Berkeley.

Biographical/Historical note

Lois Meek Stolz taught psychology at Stanford University from 1947 to 1957. She was married to Herbert R. Stolz, whose sister Mary Rosalie Stolz graduated from Stanford University in January 1906.

Biography

Born in Washington, D.C. in 1891, Lois Meek Stolz attended public schools, graduating from Washington Normal Schools in 1912. She taught school in the primary grades and attended George Washington University, graduating with an A.B. cum laude in 1921. Following that she earned her Ph.D. in 1925 at Columbia University, studying psychology under John Dewey among others. In 1924 she was recruited by the American Association of University Women to serve as Education Secretary and develop a national program of adult education. In 1929, she returned to Columbia as Professor of Education at Teachers College and also as Associate Director of the Child Development Institute, quickly becoming the Director. During this period Columbia Teachers College was the pre-eminent center in the field of education. Many of her doctoral students rose to positions of leadership in the field of child development. In 1938 she married Dr. Herbert Rowell Stolz and moved to Oakland, California. Herbert Stolz graduated from Stanford Medical School in 1914. He held administrative positions for the state of California and at the University of California, Berkeley where he was the first director of the Institute of Child Welfare. Lois joined the Institute in the late 1930s. They co-authored Somatic Development of Adolescent Boys, a classic in its field. During World War II, Lois worked for Kaiser Shipyards in Portland as Director of Child Service Centers. In 1947, she came to Stanford as a professor of psychology and started the doctoral program in child development in the School of Education. She authored Father Relations of War-Born Children in 1954. She received many awards and was honored many times by her peers and students. After becoming emeritus in 1957, Dr. Stolz worked on the Communication and Child Care Project at Stanford, culminating in the book, Influences on Parent Behavior, published in 1967. She died in Palo Alto on October 24, 1984 at the age of 93.