Robert G. Eason

Robert G. Eason, PhD (Bob) died on April 15, 2025 at the age of 100. Bob was preceded in death by his cherished wife of 69 years, Jean; his brothers Vinters and Dalton; his two best friends Aaron Brownstein and Russell Harter; and his beloved Siamese cats Kimi, Shang, Chi, and Tai. Bob is survived by his son Robert (Greg) Eason and daughter-in-law Reyna Simon of Los Gatos, CA; his daughter Linda and son-in-law Andy Goff of Greensboro; and his granddaughter Sarah and grandson-in-law Luke Eldridge of Portland, OR.

Bob was born in 1924 in Bells, Tennessee to Bryant and Zonoba Eason. Upon the death of his father in 1936, his mother moved the family to Pemiscot County Missouri where Bob and his brothers helped her work the family’s cotton farm. In 1942, he graduated from high school in Cooter, Missouri and began his higher education at a local college. However, by 1943, his duty to his country prompted him to join the Army Air Corps where he became a navigator. Due to bouts with asthma at that time, Bob was never able to fly in active duty but he served stateside and was honorably discharged in 1945.

Bob returned to his pursuit of higher education upon his Army discharge and it was during his year at Arkansas State College that he first encountered the fascinating discipline of psychology. He transferred to the University of Missouri where he obtained a BA in psychology in 1950. Bob often recalled that graduation quite fondly because President Harry Truman gave the commencement address!

Bob went on to receive MA and PhD degrees in psychology (with a minor in physiology) from the University of Missouri. He met and married Jean during that time, so she was by his side through these educational years while she was also completing her undergraduate and Masters degrees at the University. Their first child, Greg, was born just after Bob was conferred his doctorate in 1956.

Bob’s illustrious career as an academic and researcher began in 1956 as a post-doctoral student at UCLA. A year later, he took a research position at the Navy Electronics Laboratory (NEL) in San Diego, where his work constituted the basis for his research efforts for the remainder of his professional career: the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in brain activation, alertness, and attention. Over the course of his career, Bob produced over forty publications that appeared in various well-respected journals of psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience. While being a scientist was very important and fulfilling for him, it wasn’t long before Bob realized that being an educator and mentor to young scientists was his primary calling.

After working full-time with the NEL for three years, during which time Jean gave birth to their second child, Linda, Bob shifted to part-time with that agency while taking on his first full-term academic position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University. After seven years there, Bob was recruited to come to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to serve as Full Professor and Department Chair of the Psychology Department. His major goal when first arriving at UNC-G was to guide the department in the development of their PhD program, which was granted approval by the state of NC in 1970. Bob was always extremely proud of this accomplishment as well as the progress the department made both while he was there and since his retirement. UNC-G’s psychology department has an outstanding reputation and has grown through the years to offer PhD degrees across a wide variety of areas of psychology. Bob personally was major professor and mentor to several dozen PhD students, all of whom went on to have their own highly illustrious careers.

Bob served as the UNC-G Psychology Department Chair from 1967 until 1980, during which time he was named an Excellence Fund Professor and an Elizabeth Rosenthal Excellence Professor at the University. He retained the status of Professor Emeritus at UNC-G from his retirement in 1994 until his death.

While Bob’s focus on his career was always very important to him, he was also a very committed family man, spending his non-work time with Jean, his kids, his granddaughter, and (of course) his much adored Siamese cats who, despite his normally intensely scientific brain, he constantly anthropomorphized! Bob spent his retirement years traveling with Jean, volunteering with a variety of organizations, and strongly supporting local, state, and national Democratic politicians. While his body started to grow a bit frail at about the age of 96, Bob’s cognitive abilities remained sharp and intact until the day he died.

No funeral services are planned, however the family requests that everyone who knew Bob please celebrate his life, in your own way, by remembering him as the caring, magnanimous, intelligent, and gentle person he was. For those who wish to make a charitable contribution in his memory, the following organizations were meaningful to Bob: The American Civil Liberties Union (aclu.org), The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (aspca.org), the Rosemary Nelson Gray Graduate Fellowship at UNC-G (lighttheway.uncg.edu/notate Gray Fellowship), and The Democratic National Committee (democrats.org).

Online condolences may be offered at www.haneslineberryfhnorthelm.com