Update: A memorial service for Albert Flores will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 11, in the Kinesiology and Health Science Building at CSUF. Anyone who would like to say a few words at the service is asked to contact Craig Ihara.
Albert Flores, professor emeritus of philosophy, who had been honored as one of Cal State Fullerton’s Outstanding Professor and Faculty Leadership in Collegial Governance award recipients, died Jan. 13. He was 70.
The educator, who joined the faculty in 1982, coordinated the University’s Health Professions Program from 1989 to 1993, in addition to teaching. He chaired the Philosophy Department from 1993 to 1996 and again from 2003 to 2006, and led the Academic Senate from 1993 to 1995.
Flores mentored students and faculty as a chair or member of the University’s Health Professions Committee, the Hispanic Faculty Staff Association, the President’s Committee to Support the Retention of Minority and Women Faculty, and the President’s Scholars Screening Committee.
He authored and edited numerous journal articles and books on business and medical ethics, professional responsibility and minority retention, AIDS, justice and end-of-life care. In addition to the University’s 2001-02 Outstanding Professor Award and the Leadership Award in 2008, Flores was honored by the Orange County Board of Supervisors as the county’s Outstanding Hispanic Educator in 1995.
Although brain stem damage from a 2006 rupture of his descending aorta impaired Flores’ limbs and limited his vision and voice, his mind was sharp, and he often was on campus seeking training at the Disability Support Services Office. He learned American Sign Language and Morse code as ways to communicate with friends.
Craig Ihara, professor emeritus of philosophy and former Philosophy Department chair remembers his friend and colleague fondly. “He was a very well-respected and talented person. He was very artistic, a poet, and a great athlete in his time,” Ihara said.
Ihara said few knew that Flores is in the Athletics Hall of Fame at Cleveland State University, where he excelled as a high jumper, and earned his bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in 1971 and 1974, from Ohio State University, and followed with a postdoctoral fellowship in medical ethics at Albany Medical College in 1977.
Flores is survived by his children, Paul Saye and Stephanie Scales; six grandchildren; and his sister, Katie Strickland.
A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday, March 11, in the Kinesiology and Health Science Building at CSUF.