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John Andrews-Labenski, Psychology

John Andrews-LabenskiJohn Andrews-Labenski, a retired electronics engineer and an instructor in Penn’s department of psychology for more than three decades, died on May 2 at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania, from complications of surgery for lung cancer. He was 68 years old.

Dr. Andrews-Labenski was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He graduated from State College Area High School, then went on to earn his BS in electronics engineering from Thomas Edison State College, his PhD in education from Madison University in 1995 and his MSEd in culture & society from Penn’s Graduate School of Education in 2000.

Dr. Andrews-Labenski joined Penn’s department of psychology in 1982. He served as electronics engineer, designing and building equipment that facilitated scientific progress by researchers in several departments within the School of Arts & Sciences and the Perelman School of Medicine. For about 15 years, he also taught graduate students in these two schools in a well-regarded course, Electronics for Scientists, for which he converted a part of his shop into a technological learning environment. His skills extended from electronics to working in wood, plastic and metal, and the technologically up-to-date shop that he maintained was much used by students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty, often under his guidance.

In 2012, Dr. Andrews-Labenski was accepted as a senior member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers. In 2013, he retired.

He is survived by his wife, Beth Ann Johnson; his brothers, James P. Labenski and Richard Labenski (Sue); his son, Ben Watson (Kim); and two grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be directed to Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 26, Huntingdon, PA 16652.

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