Phil Trapp, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, died December 25, 2021 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  Born in Akron, Ohio in 1923 to Emily and Philip E. Trapp, he grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was a navy officer in the South Pacific in WWII, and received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Ohio State University in 1951.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Jane (his first wife, Myra, died in 1964); stepsons George Butler (Kathy), Nick Butler, and Chris Butler (Bonnie); stepdaughters Toney Schlesinger (Barry), Jane Ann Butler, and Gina Barton (Bruce); twelve grandchildren; and eighteen great-grandchildren.

Dr. Trapp was the pioneer clinical psychologist in Arkansas, the first to arrive from a nationally accredited program, joining the faculty at the University of Arkansas in 1951.  He organized the Psychological Clinic, was its director for 13 years, organized the Clinical Doctoral Programs, was its director for 13 years, and served as the departmental chairperson for 13 years, retiring after forty years on the faculty in 1991.  He was assistant director of the college’s honors program at its inception and developed a teacher-evaluation scale that was used by the college for 10 years.  He published 45 professional articles, a textbook on the Exceptional Child, and received a National Science Foundation grant.  He received the University of Arkansas Alumni Distinguished Teaching and Research Award in 1971.

He taught summers at the University of Wisconsin, New Mexico State University, and New York State University at Oswego.  In the summers of 1964 through 1968 he served as a consultant for VISTA, the domestic peace corps, in Washington, D.C.

Among his many honors, he was a past president of the Arkansas Psychological Association, received its first distinguished serve award, and was selected its outstanding academic psychologist in 2007.  He wrote the licensing law for psychologist in the state, and was instrumental in organizing the state’s chapter of the national mental health association.  He served as an early president of the regional chapter.  He is in Who’s Who in America.

He was President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Association of University Professors in the 1950s and led the legal battle to repeal Act 10 of the Arkansas Legislature that required the listing of all organizations belonging to or contributing to as a requirement for holding a state job, which was finally defeated in the U.S. Supreme Court.  Dr. Trapp also chaired several committees in investigating violations of academic freedom in universities in other states for AAUP.  He nominated Dean Guerson Nichols who received the prestigious Michel John Award given to an administrator with an outstanding record on academic freedom.

Dr. Trapp continued to be active in clinical practice, writing, and gardening after retirement.  He published a novel, “The Red-Ribboned Letters”, a partial autobiography of his duties as a Wave Commander leading assault marines in the islands in the South Pacific in WWII.  He also wrote a book on flowers, “Grandfather’s Legacy:  His Personal Story of the Flowers”; a satire on intelligence, “Did the Smarter Apes Stay in the Trees”; and an autobiography, “Memoirs of a WWI Baby Boomer”.

Arrangements are pending.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to E. P. Trapp Scholarship Fund.  Contact Carl Riley.  criley@uark.edu at the University of Arkansas.

Cremation arrangements by Beard’s Funeral Chapel.