Obituary: George Schrader, philosopher and educator

George Alfred Schrader Jr., professor emeritus of philosophy, died on May 4 at the age of 81.

Professor Schrader was a leading authority on German philosopher Immanuel Kant. He was at the forefront of those scholars who in the 1950s renewed American interest in the developments in the field of philosophy in Europe -- not only to the work of Kant and Georg Hegel, but to the then-unfamiliar thought of Károly Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Jean Paul Sartre.

Schrader served as master of Branford College 1959-66 and played an instrumental role in the creation of the college deanship. He chaired the philosophy department 1964-70.

"But more important than all of that was the example George set as an educator," says Karsten Harries, professor and director of graduate studies in philosophy, "strong enough to go his own way, to speak up for what he thought right, not afraid to challenge, but always ready to listen and to advise, never too busy to help, when help was needed. An exemplary mentor, George helped train a whole generation of American philosophers."

Born in English, Indiana, in 1917, Professor Schrader was raised in Blue Springs, Missouri, and received his undergraduate training at Park College, Missouri. He first came to Yale in 1939 as a student in the Divinity School, eventually earning his B.D. in 1942. He went on to do graduate work in philosophy at Yale, earning his Ph.D. in 1945. He taught at Trinity and Colgate universities and San Antonio College before joining the Yale faculty in 1949. He retired in 1987.

Professor Schrader was predeceased by his wife, Norma, and is survived by four daughters and six grandchildren.

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