Condolences for the family of Dr. Erna Yackel

With sincere condolences, we announce the passing of Dr. Erna B. Yackel, professor emerita of Mathematics Education and wife of Chancellor Emeritus James Yackel.

Erna Yackel joined the Purdue Northwest Hammond campus, then Purdue University Calumet, in 1984. She was a highly respected educator and an internationally known scholar. Erna introduced the mathematics education community to the groundbreaking terms “social norms” and “sociomathematical norms,” leading to hundreds of professional publications. This particular work remains one of the most robust theories in the field, having been cited more than 3,000 times.

Erna authored myriad research publications and received many awards including the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Young Investigator Award. She mentored graduate students and young faculty into the research community. In addition, Erna conducted thousands of hours of teacher professional development workshops on inquiry approaches to teaching mathematics. Teachers who attended her workshops often describe how Erna’s work fundamentally changed the way that they approached their teaching. Faculty colleagues state that she had a profound impact on the teaching profession in Northwest Indiana.

Erna retired from the university in 2004. The following year, she was recognized with a Distinguished Education Alumni Award from Purdue University in West Lafayette, where she had earned her doctorate degree. She continued to collaborate with colleagues long after her retirement and put the finishing touches on her final paper a few days before her death.

Erna Yackel is survived by her husband, James Yackel; three children, Jonathan (Lisa) Yackel, Juliet Yackel, and Carolyn (Bobby Stecher) Yackel; five grandchildren; and her sister Clara Seecamp Klatkee.

Read the full obituary honoring Erna’s life and accomplishments at this link.

For those who wish to visit with the family, please note the two memorial events planned this week:

Visitation

Friday, Sept. 9, 2022
4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Kish Funeral Home
10000 Calumet Ave.
Munster, IN 46321

Service

Saturday, Sept. 10
11 a.m.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
8955 Columbia Ave.
Munster, IN 46321

Thomas L. Keon
Chancellor, Purdue University Northwest