(January 3, 2007) On December 27, 2006 Distinguished Professor Emeritus Alan Hickrod passed away while visiting with family in California. According to his obituary in The Pantagraph details are as follows:

  • Visitation: Thursday, January 4 at the Unitarian Church (1613 E. Emerson, Bloomington) from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
  • Celebration of Life Service: Friday, January 5 at the Unitarian Church at 1:00 p.m.
  • Interment: Sunday, January 7 in Fort Branch, Indiana.

The National Center for Education Statistics provides the following biography on Dr. Hickrod:

G. Alan Hickrod was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Educational Administration and Foundations at Illinois State University (ISU). Dr. Hickrod founded the Center for the Study of Education Finance at ISU which has explored educational finance topics for over two decades. He was also a founding member of the American Education Finance Association, was its tenth President, and holds its distinguished service award.

Dr. Hickrod directed approximately 18 different educational research grants and authored numerous publications for academic review. His work includes over 75 monographs and books and over 65 articles and papers on school finance and education research. Many of his publications have regularly appeared in the Journal of Education Finance, Journal of Educational Administration,Educational Administration QuarterlyAmerican Education Research JournalReview of Educational Research, and many more. He was also a regular contributor to the “Constitutional Challenges” and “Selected Readings” sections for the Illinois State Board of Education publication titled, State, Local, and Federal Financing for Illinois Public Schools.

Dr. Hickrod was a Harvard graduate with a doctorate in education, and a leading authority on school finance, social and economic foundations, and statistics and research methods.

If you would like to learn more about his illustrious career, please explore the following:

  • Illinois Pediodicals Online (IPO) Project
  • The MacArthur/Spencer Special Series on Educational Finance

Dr. Hickrod was a treasure for the College of Education at Illinois State University for many years. He joined the the College faculty in 1967 and retired on August 1, 1995, after nearly 30 years of exemplary service to the College, University, and field. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the ISU Foundation Hubbard/Hickrod Scholarship Fund. He will be greatly missed.