Feldt, Dr. Leonard S.

Dr. Leonard S. Feldt, 85, of Iowa City, died at his home Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011. A gathering for family and friends will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City.

Leonard Samuel Feldt was born Nov. 2, 1925, in Red Bank, N.J., the son of Harry and Bessie (Doris) Feldt. He graduated from high school in Red Bank, and then enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving during World War II. Following his military service he attended Rutgers University, where he received his B.S. degree. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1954. He was a faculty member in the College of Education at the University of Iowa for 41 years and was appointed Emeritus Professor in 1995.

During his career at Iowa, he served as director of Iowa Testing Programs from 1981 through 1994, as chair of the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations for 10 years between 1977 and 1993, and as the E.F. Lindquist Professor of Educational Measurement from 1981 until his retirement.

During his professional career, he earned international recognition for his scholarly work in educational measurement and statistical methods. He was the author or co-author of numerous publications in these areas. In 1994, he was honored for his accomplishments by the National Council on Measurement in Education with a Career Contribution Award and in 1995, he was the recipient of the E.F. Lindquist Award for Significant Contributions to the Field of Testing and Measurement from the American Educational Research Association and ACT. In 1999, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing and the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation. Most recently, in June 2011, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Iowa Alumni Association.

His scholarly efforts in the field of educational measurement were not restricted to technical areas. During his career, he had major responsibilities for the development of several standardized achievement batteries that have been used, and are still being used, in large-scale testing programs throughout the nation. He and E.F. Lindquist were the authors of several early editions of the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and also of early editions of the National Educational Development Tests. He was the person primarily responsible for creating the first several editions of the ACT. He was an author of six editions of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development.

As the main author of a standardized achievement battery, he was extremely concerned about the appropriate use of test results by the consumers of these tests and wrote cogently about this important issue. He was associated with Iowa Testing Programs for his entire career at the University of Iowa. During those years, he worked hard to help Iowa teachers, counselors, and administrators become better users of assessment information.

He was not only an excellent researcher but was also a superb teacher and administrator. He received the University of Iowa Award for Meritorious Teaching in 1989. He served as the dissertation adviser or co-Advisor for more than 50 students. In one 10-year period (1991/1992 through 2000/2001), six of the 10 presidents of the National Council on Measurement in Education were his former students. His former advisees are or have been on the faculties of more than 20 colleges and universities in the United States and other countries. In addition, many of his advisees have or have had prominent positions in two of the largest testing organizations in the United States (ACT and ETS).

His family includes his wife, Natalie; two children, Sarah Feldt Roach of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Daniel C. Feldt of Streamwood, Ill.; two sisters, Corinne (Mrs. Warren) Stutts of Concord, N.H., and Marna Feldt, with homes in Red Bank, N.J., and New York City.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in his memory to the Blommers-Hieronymus-Feldt Fellowship, c/o University of Iowa Foundation.

Online condolences may be sent for his family through the Web at .

Published Oct. 28, 2011, in The Gazette