SED dean, 79, led movement to desegregate

Former Boston University School of Education Dean Robert Dentler initiated massive social changes across the country by helping to desegregate public schools in the 1970s. The Lexington resident died March 20 after battling a bone marrow disorder, according to family members. He was 79.

"He was hoping to battle through it and come home," his son Robin Dentler said. "He was very brave and died very peacefully."

Dentler, a tenured BU sociology professor, and then Associate Dean Marvin Scott became court-appointed sociological experts to help desegregate Boston Public Schools under Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr., after Garrity ruled that the School Committee's segregation was intentional and therefore unconstitutional in 1974, Scott said.

"Dr. Dentler was an ardent integrationist. He worked very hard with reason and principle to attempt to bring resolution to the debacle that the city of Boston found itself in, regarding school integration and desegregation," Scott, a Butler University sociology professor, said. "He was a great tactile planner, his brilliance came through time and time again."

Although there were times when Dentler and Scott had to have marshals assigned to them because of strong opposition to integration, Dentler's knowledge and planning was eventually used throughout U.S. desegregation efforts, Scott said.

"It was the pinnacle of his career. We're all very proud of his career," Robin said. "He did it on the side, it was not the main way he made a living. He was a sociologist; he applied his sociology to help minorities and the poorer population throughout the United States."

Dentler was awarded the American Sociological Association's distinguished career award last year, for his efforts in the field, Robin said.

Born on Nov. 26, 1928, Dentler received a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's in English literature from Northwestern University. He also received a master's degree in sociology from American University and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago, SED Associate Dean Joan Dee said.

"He had a very broad background, and took great pleasure in writing. In his younger days, he had written for newspapers," Dee said. "He really cared deeply about the children."

It was under his leadership that SED became one of the first schools in the nation to send its students out into the field itself, Dee said.

"He was certainly a leader in terms of having a vision for the school," she said. "One of the first things he said for us was that we should be field-centered."

As SED dean, Dentler was also responsible for the commission that updated the Massachusetts certification requirements.

"He was always one to take on very difficult assignments," SED Associate Dean of Student Relations Boyd Dewey said. "He was a very caring individual, which is essential as an educator."

Dentler was still involved and until a year ago, Dentler still worked at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Robin said.

Dentler had written 15 books in his lifetime and co-wrote several others, including a book with Scott on their experiences desegregating Boston called Schools on Trial: The Boston Schools Desegregation Case.

Besides his son Robin, Dentler is survived by his wife, Helen, his daughter, Deborah, his son, Eric, a brother, Howard, and six grandchildren.