In Memoriam: Dr. Bernard “Bernie” Spilka

Dear DU community members,

I write with sad news of the passing of Bernard “Bernie” Spilka, Professor Emeritus in Psychology in the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences on Friday May 23, at the age of 98.

Dr. Spilka was a military veteran and earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1952. He began his academic career in 1955 as an Assistant Professor at Washburn University, and in 1957 joined the faculty at DU. He was granted emeritus status in 1997 and continued to actively engage with the university community after his retirement, including organizing lectures for retirees and authoring a compendium of profiles of 189 former DU faculty members.

The scholarly contributions of Dr. Spilka included work on group influence of individual judgments and delayed speech feedback, but he is most known for his scholarship in the field of the Psychology of Religion. He authored a total of 151 papers as well as 16 books and major federal reports.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Spilka held many leadership roles, including President of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association and Colorado Psychological Association and President of Division 36 (Religion and Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association (APA). He received the Distinguished Service Award from the latter. He was also honored for his teaching and service with the United Methodist Church Scholar/Teacher Award. This recognized both his classroom contributions and his extensive, enthusiastic mentoring of many students over the decades, changing many lives through his encouragement and training.

Dr. Spilka is remembered not only for his scholarly contributions, but also his progressive advocacy. As faculty senate president in the 1970s, he pushed for equal pay for female professors. He was also known for his voracious appetite for learning. He took many courses at DU while a professor in topics ranging from vector analysis to astrophysics.  Any narrative describing him also mentions his wonderful sense of humor—as just one example, Dr. Spilka wrote in a piece published in 2011, “Consider that I feel I am so old that I remember when the Dead Sea was only sick.”

Dr. Spilka’s family has requested that donations in his memory be made to his scholarship fund at DU.  Please join me in conveying my warmest condolences to Bernie’s friends and family.

Sincerely,