Kenneth Levy

Published September 16, 2016 This content is archived.

Kenneth Levy, professor emeritus of psychology, died Sept. 10 in Florida. He was 69.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Levy received bachelor’s (Phi Beta Kappa) and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and a doctorate from Purdue University.

An accomplished statistician, he served as a faculty member in UB’s Department of Psychology for more than 38 years, as well as holding numerous administrative posts across the university.

Levy excelled in the classroom, working with students to help them understand the complexities of statistics in ways that few could. While he was most proud of his role as teacher, he also served the university by taking up numerous administrative posts over the years, including as chair of the Department of Psychology, dean of the former Faculty of Social Sciences (now part of the College of Arts and Sciences), acting chair of the Economics and Statistics departments, acting provost and senior vice provost.

He also held interim positions as dean of the schools of Health Related Professions (now Public Health and Health Professions), Architecture and Planning, and the Graduate School of Education.

In addition to his research in statistics and psychology, Levy published many haikus and was an accomplished painter, his works exhibited in local galleries in Western New York.

Levy was known for his love of art, theater and music. He had a constant supply of jokes and savored every meal as the best, the most delicious, he ever had. Friends and family members say he was the rare person who expressed a true joy for life, love for his friends and family, and went beyond his everyday work in the classroom to appreciate and enjoy the beauty in the world around him.

A memorial service will be held in Buffalo at a future date.