Remembering Helen Crossley

The Josef Korbel School community is saddened at the passing of Helen Crossley on September 25. She was 95.

Crossley's gift to to establish the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research has benefitted and continues to benefit Korbel graduate students and the advancement of public opinion research related to domestic and foreign policy issues.

Her generous gift establishing the Crossley Center will help students and the greater community understand American public opinion related to international affairs, and international public opinion. "Both are key in developing international policy and working effectively with individuals in other countries," said Christopher Hill, dean of the Korbel School. 

In remembering Crossley, Floyd Ciruli, director of the Crossley Center, said, "Helen's gift to the University of Denver Korbel School started an academic center that has provided scholarships for graduate-level students, taught more than 90 students public opinion and foreign policy, and participated in WAPOR conferences in Nice, France and Buenos Aires, Argentina and AAPOR conferences in Anaheim, California and Austin, Texas."

Both Helen Crossley and her father, Archibald, were pioneers in the field of public opinion research and polling. Colleagues and friends remember her as smart, generous, delightful, dedicated to her profession and intellectually curious throughout her life. Her obituary quotes the late George Gallup Jr., who said, "Helen has always retained a fascination with research methodology, and also with the potential of survey research to make new discoveries about humankind, and to bring about positive change in societies around the world."

The Korbel School is deeply grateful to Helen Crossley for her friendship and generosity, for her commitment to the profession of public opinion research and for the positive impact of her philanthropic gift on our current and future students.