Raymond H. Schmandt, professor of history at Saint Joseph’s University, died February 22, 2005, after a prolonged illness. A PhD from the University of Michigan (1953), he taught at DePaul University and Loyola University Chicago, before coming to Philadelphia. There he established a program of medieval history and church studies, as befit his co-authorship (with Thomas Neill) of History of the Catholic Church. He proved to be a magnetic classroom presence and a mentor of aspiring historians studying with him at the undergraduate level. Over the years he published regularly, with scholarly articles appearing in Speculum, Diakonia, The Journal of Baltic Studies, and The Catholic Historical Review. He was able to give a wide exposure of his historical outlook in numerous book reviews and papers presented in the United States as well as in Germany. Schmandt served as chair of the Saint Joseph’s history department in the 1970s and he was for many years the editor of Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia.

—David H. Burton
Saint Joseph's University