IU adjunct psychology faculty member Phillip Summers knew the name of every student in his lecture class of 250.

Summers, who taught the Introduction to Psychology class since 2001, will be remembered as a caring teacher and role model for involvement on IU’s campus, said James Craig, director of undergraduate instruction for the department.

Summers, 74, died at 3:10 p.m. Sunday at IU Health Hospital in Bloomington after suffering a heart attack, the IU Police Department confirmed Monday.

Summers was attending a 2 p.m. alumni board meeting at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house, 1720 N. Jordan Ave., when he reportedly experienced chest pains and difficulty breathing, IUPD Lieut. Craig Munroe said.

He is survived by his wife, Pat, three daughters, Lynn, Pam and Angela and four grandsons, senior and former Pi Kappa Phi president Sam Wandolowski confirmed.
Summers was president of Vincennes University from 1970 to 2001 and after retiring, joined the faculty of IU’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Even after retiring, he continued to teach an introductory psychology course at Vincennes.

In addition to his teaching, Summers served as national president of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity from 1992 to 1994 and was named Mr. Pi Kappa Phi in 2003, according to the national fraternity’s website.

As the IU chapter alumni board president, Summers would stop by the fraternity house every Tuesday and Thursday to visit the brothers, Wandolowski said.

“He was more involved than anyone,” Wandolowski said. “He went out of his way to live and breathe Pi Kaps.”

As his freshman P101 professor, Summers encouraged Wandolowski to rush with Pi Kappa Phi.

Summers helped the fraternity while it was purchasing its current house, Wandolowski said.

“This is a man who had bypass surgery twice,” Wandolowski said. “At this point, he could retire, he was just doing it for fun ... I’ve known him for three, four years and I was just so glad I was able to learn from him.”

Summers encouraged all of his students to get involved on campus, and would give them extra credit for doing so, his former student, senior Jenna Gatziolis, said.

“Randomly throughout the semester he would call someone out in the middle of class, usually catching them off guard, and asking them to explain some life experience they had,” she said. “It was an awesome way to relate to the material being taught in the course.”

Each fall, most of Summers’ students would walk with him in the Homecoming Parade, William Hetrick, Chair of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, said in an email to faculty.

At the end of each semester, he would bring the department chair a report detailing the successes and challenges he faced that term.

“It was a very thoughtful reflection on his teaching and engagement with the students,” Hetrick said in the email. “He insisted on handing the report directly to the chair so that he could say ‘thank you’ in person.”

Freshman Amanda Hardy would have attended Summers’ P101 class today. They would have discussed the recent chapter exam, and Summers told students he planned to make them laugh during the Tuesday class.

“He always left us on our toes wondering how we could better understand concepts,” Hardy said. “He would not only know who you were, but where you’re from, and personal information.”

The psychology department is working on finding an instructor to replace Summers for his P101 class, Craig said.

Summers earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees at IU and a Ph.D at Indiana State University. He was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1996. He was also president of IU’s Alumni Interfraternity Council.

Junior and Pi Kappa Phi president Colin O’Donnell was present at the Sunday alumni board meeting with Summers.

“It’s taken a toll,” O’Donnell said. “It’s very sad and solemn and quiet at the house right now. There was a lot of support from the brothers.”

O’Donnell said the entire IU chapter plans to travel to Vincennes to honor Summers in his funeral, which will take place 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Vincennes University. O’Donnell will be participating in a presentation during the funeral, and the Pi Kappa Phi song will also be sung during the ceremony.

The visitation will take place Wednesday in First Christian Church in Vincennes.

Wandolowski said he was shocked to hear the news, but he is grateful for the time he had with Summers, and the lessons he learned from Summers’ work ethic.
“I’m gonna miss that man,” Wandolowski said.

Follow reporter Samantha Schmidt on Twitter @schmidtsam7.