Rand Boyd Evans, 78, of Livermore Falls, Maine, originally from Baytown, Texas, passed away Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at his residence with his loving wife of 57 years by his side.
He was born Feb. 20, 1942, in Baytown, Texas, the son of William Evans and Lacy (Mabe) Evans. He graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, Texas in 1960. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Doctorate in Psychology by 1967.
His professional life began as an assistant professor of psychology at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, from 1967 to 1972. He became an associate professor and later tenured full professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire from 1972 to 1976. Returning to Texas in 1976, he was a professor of psychology and later chair of the Psychology Department at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, until 1987.
He was the dean of liberal arts at Baltimore University in Baltimore, Md., from 1987 to 1990. Finally, he was chair of the psychology department at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., from 1990 until his retirement in 2005.
As an expert on the subject of the history of psychology and related antique scientific instrumentation, he was called on during his tenure at ECU to spend a year at Harvard University as a consultant on Harvard’s collection of psychology-related historical scientific instruments, to teach a course on the Psychology of Television Advertising at the University of Kiel in Kiel, Germany, and assisted periodically as a researcher and consultant on the History of Psychology for the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Germany.
He married his high school sweetheart, Mary Kubica, on June 22, 1963, in Baytown, and together they raised three children. He enjoyed traveling with his family, especially through Europe, collecting antique furniture, researching family genealogy and historic preservation. While living in Somersworth, N.H., he was an original member of and instrumental in the establishment of the Somersworth Historical Society. As a resident of Bryan, Texas, he became active in Citizens for Historic Preservation, and as president of CHP, spearheaded the drive for the successful establishment of the East Side Historic District.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Evans of Livermore Falls; his son, Karl Evans of Carolina Beach, N.C.., daughters, Victoria Evans of Arlington, Va., and Veronica Evans of Raleigh, N.C.; and his beloved rescue cat, Queenie.
