College mourns the passing of distinguished teaching professor

It is with great sadness that the College shares the news of the passing of Distinguished Teaching Professor Dale L. Stein.

Born and educated in Pittsburgh, Pa., Stein received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Carnegie Institute of Technology’s College of Fine Arts. In 1961, he joined the faculty at SUNY New Paltz, during which time he developed a love for the Catskill Mountain region and its history. Stein led students to the sites made famous by the Hudson River School painters and designed a course on the cultural history of the Catskills that led to the establishment of the Carl Carmer Center for Catskill Studies at the College. In 1973, he was one of nine of the SUNY faculty awarded the title of Distinguished Teaching Professor and the only one in art.

Stein was a designer and illustrator for Norcross greetings cards in New York for 11 years, but his teaching career of 25 years was his true passion. After high school and before he was drafted into the service, he worked on the Pittsburgh and West Virginia railroad, continuing a lifelong interest in trains. A print of a drawing by Stein is currently displayed at the Steamtown National Historic Site at Scranton, Pa., acquired by the Department of the Interior. Most of his works are in private collections, including that of the former drawing curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1985, he completed a series of landscape paintings of 53 small towns in Ulster County, forming an exhibition entitled “Chorographs.”

He is survived by his wife, Martha; his brother, John, of Raleigh, N.C.; his three children: David, of Greenwood Lake, N.Y., Aaron, of Burlington, Vt., and Leah, of Philadelphia, Pa.; and granddaughter Lucie, of Burlington.