Paul F. Bitting, a professor at North Carolina State University for nearly three decades, passed away on March 8. He was 79 years old.
In 1989, Dr. Bitting joined the faculty of the College of Education at North Carolina State University where he taught until his retirement in 2016 as an associate professor. From 2006 to 2007, he served as the college’s assistant dean for diversity.
Prior to his career at North Carolina State University, Dr. Bitting served as a social worker in New York City during the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. He also served as a middle school teacher and an assistant principal at a school in Brooklyn.
“Educators need to think about what others are feeling, and put themselves in the position of their students,” said Dr. Bitting upon his retirement from North Carolina State University. “If you want to truly educate children — to get them to develop an ability to think critically and reflectively — you need empathy, which is key to creating equity.”
Dr. Bitting was a graduate of historically Black North Carolina Central University. He received a second bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from the City University of New York. He held a second master’s degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in the philosophy of education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
