Charles LaBounty, professor at Hamline

He taught psychology using real-life experiences and humor, making him a popular lecturer.

By BEN COHEN, Star Tribune

Last update: February 26, 2008 - 8:08 PM

Charles LaBounty, a psychology professor at St. Paul's Hamline University, packed the house when he led workshops for teachers in Minnesota, Canada and several western states.

"Thousands of teachers have learned from him," said Steve Jongewaard, a Hamline Education Department professor who also taught the workshops LaBounty developed.

LaBounty died at his Roseville home on Feb. 19 of complications from liver disease.

The longtime St. Paul resident was 68.

LaBounty "resonated" with teachers meeting professional education requirements at his workshops and he was "hilarious," said Jongewaard.

He began teaching the workshop "Discipline without Tears: Positive Classroom Control'' in the late 1970s. When teachers left his workshop they believed "I am going to be a better teacher as a result," said Jongewaard.

"Chuck was indeed committed to the values of student-centeredness and student engagement, and no doubt he will be missed by many faculty, staff and students from our community," said Fernando Delgado, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, in a Hamline newsletter.

LaBounty joined the Hamline faculty in 1972 after teaching at the University of California, San Diego, where he received his Ph.D. in the early 1970s.

In 1984, Hamline named him its Burton and Ruth Grimes Teaching Award winner.

At Hamline, he began teaching in the education department and moved to the psychology department in the late 1980s.

He enjoyed his cabin near Remer, Minn., and hiking and fishing.

He is survived by his wife, Karen, of St. Paul; sons, Brian of Eagan and Bradly of Seattle; stepchildren Joe, Jenna and Paul Burgoyne of St. Paul; sister Laura Autio of Seattle, and three grandchildren.

Services have been held.

Recent Obituaries stories

Deaths elsewhere - February 26, 2008

Deaths elsewhere - Maria Gulovich Liu, 87, who as a young schoolteacher in Slovakia during World War II joined the underground resistance as a courier and later helped a small group of U.S. and British intelligence agents evade the German army as they fled through frigid mountains to safety, died last Friday at her home in Port Hueneme, Calif. Liu, who was fluent in five languages, received a Bronze Star for her "heroic and meritorious" service to the Office of Strategic Services. "I interviewed men who were with her, and they were flabbergasted by how brave she was," said Jim Downs, who first met Liu when he interviewed her for his 2002 book "World War II: OSS Tragedy in Slovakia." In the book, former U.S. Army Sgt. Ken Dunlevy, who escaped Slovakia with Liu and three other intelligence agents, called her "our little sweetheart for whom I am and will be grateful forever. To her, it is no doubt that I owe my safety and perhaps my life." More