Dr. George E. Pawlas

Melbourne, Florida - Dr. George E. Pawlas died on Monday August 21, 2023 at the age of 84. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Sharon and his two sons; Gary (Annette) of Colorado and Greg of Naples, Florida. He is also survived by four grandchildren; Joshua Rooken-Smith (Rachael) of Tennessee, Lindsay Scholl (Zach) and Mariah Pawlas both of Colorado, and Alex Pawlas of Texas as well as his great-grandchildren Kato Pawlas (Colorado) and Noah Rooken-Smith (Tennessee). He is preceded in death by his parents George and Hulda Pawlas. He was born to George and Hulda Pawlas on August 1, 1939 in Cleveland Ohio. He was raised in Cleveland and that is where he met his high school sweetheart, Sharon. George began his life long career in education as a teacher and subsequently, principal at Beech Elementary in Rocky River, Ohio where he and Sharon raised their sons. In 1981, George and Sharon moved to Columbia, South Carolina. During his time there, George served first as principal of MilCreek Elementary and then, Leaphart Elementary. In 1989 at the age of 50 he received his Ph.D in Educational Leadership. After achieving that milestone, he was hired at the University of Central Florida (UCF) as an Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership. During his tenure at UCF, George chaired the College of Education Planning Committee which was responsible for the program design of the UCF Academy for Teaching, Learning and Leadership. He also chaired the committee responsible for the renovation of the Education Complex Building. He connected with students by chairing over 33 doctoral dissertations and participated in over 100 doctoral committees. His research on the topics of employee supervision, school-community relations, and contemporary issues related to educational leadership earned him recognition as a highly regarded authority on educational leadership. He retired from UCF in 2013 and received the Professor Emeritus Award in 2021. In addition to teaching, he authored several articles and presented at local and national conferences throughout his career. He is the author of several books including: The Administrator’s Guide to School-Community Relations. In his free time, George loved watching baseball, taking cruises to the Bahamas, attending educational conferences, and spending time caring for his yard.