In Memoriam: Dr. Maria Lynn (1960-2023)

Dear Members of the NJCU Community,

It is with tremendous sadness, we write to inform you that long-time current NJCU faculty member and administrator Dr. Maria Lynn, Professor of Psychology, passed away on Monday, April 24, 2023 with her family in in St. Charles, Missouri after a brief battle with brain cancer. She was 62 years old. | Full obituary

Dr. Lynn joined the NJCU community in Fall 2002, and in more than 20 years of service was a distinguished professor and administrator.

Dr. Lynn served as an Associate Dean under the leadership of two different deans within the William J. Maxwell College of Arts and Sciences, as Associate Provost to former provost Joanne Bruno, and most recently, as an Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education under former provost Tamara Jhashi.

A co-chair of the Psychology Department, Dr. Lynn was recognized for excellence in teaching by the National Society of Leadership and Success.

Widely respected by NJCU's faculty and staff, and especially her students, Maria taught some of the most technical and challenging courses in the Psychology Department — including Statistics, Research Methods, and Senior Research Seminar — yet her classes were among the first to close during registration, with students clambering to gain admission.

Dr. Lynn was still teaching her own classes and supporting her colleagues with their courses until falling ill in mid-March.

Her colleagues who have contributed to this announcement remember Maria as a kind and very generous person, often giving students her own money when they could not make ends meet. She was incredibly compassionate and warm, smart and sassy, and was a passionate advocate for the underdog. Countless students benefitted from her tutelage and tireless devotion — as well as from her chocolate stash, which she happily distributed to all. She was an excellent administrator, an adored professor, and a dear friend — one who was always available for professional advice, or to just talk. We were all enriched by having known her. The Psychology Department and NJCU will not be the same without her. 

Per Dr. Lynn's wishes, services will not be held.