LeRoy A. Olson

LeRoy Albert Olson was born in Cumberland, Wisconsin on November 11th, 1931, the only child of Albert and Lena Marie (Tollefson) Olson. He attended a rural elementary school east of Cumberland and graduated from Cumberland High School as valedictorian of the class of 1949. He attended the University of Wisconsin – Superior, then known as Superior State College, graduating with High Honors in 1953. As a graduate of the Air Force ROTC, Mr. Olson began active service in January 1954, attending Radio Communications School at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. He was assigned to active duty at an Aircraft Control and Warning site near Kangnung on the east coast of Korea, serving there until being released from the service as a First Lieutenant in 1955.

Mr. Olson enrolled in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Wisconsin and received a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1956. He accepted a position as Physics Instructor at North High School in Minneapolis and began teaching in the Fall of 1956. In 1957 he returned to the University of Wisconsin to pursue an advanced degree, receiving the Doctor of Philosophy in Tests and Measurements in 1960.

Dr. Olson joined the staff of the Bureau of Institutional Research at the University of Minnesota as a Research Fellow 1958. In 1961, he accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Office of Evaluation Services at Michigan State University. Dr. Olson remained on the faculty of MSU for thirty-nine years, the last twenty of them as Professor and Director of the Scoring Office in the Computer Laboratory.

Dr. Olson enjoyed many opportunities for professional travel. He taught courses for Michigan State University in Rome, Jakarta, Manila, and at Clark AFB in the Philippines. In 1969 he was a US Office of Education Postdoctoral Fellow in the College of Education at the University of California Berkeley. During his first MSU sabbatical leave in 1971, he visited educational research institutions at universities in Copenhagen, Kiel and Stockholm. During his second sabbatical leave in 1985, Dr. Olson was in residence with the Computer-Assisted Instruction group at the NEC Central search laboratories in a suburb of Tokyo.

In June 1956, Mr. Olson married his long-time sweetheart, Gloria Poulter. They had two sons: David (Maria) of Truckee, CA; and Thomas (Linda) of Leawood, KS. They had three grandchildren: Claire, Ryan and Emily. LeRoy and Gloria were married for 66 years. They were inveterate travelers. In addition to the travels described above, they visited the Baltic region, especially Norway and Sweden, as well as central Europe, Morocco, New Zealand, Australia, Bali, China and Tibet.

Mr. Olson was an active member of University Lutheran Church in East Lansing for over 60 years. He served the church as President, Treasurer, and Chairman of the Board of Campus Work.

A Memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 29th at 11:00 am at University Lutheran Church, 1020 S Harrison Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823.

Memorial contributions may be given to University Lutheran Church, 1020 S Harrison Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823 or the Michael J. Fox Foundation, P.O. Box 5014 Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014.