07/05/2009

Associated Press

Lenoar "Len" Foster, the interim dean of the Washington State University College of Education who was appointed to the position after his predecessor's death just one week ago, has died. He was 57.

The death late Thursday or early Friday at Foster's home in Pullman was announced by the school. A cause of death has not been confirmed.

Foster was appointed to the job after the school's longest-serving dean, Judy Nichols Mitchell, died June 26 at age 70.

WSU President Elson S. Floyd says Foster's death was "a profound loss and another tremendous shock" to a campus still grieving over Mitchell's death.

Foster joined the faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership & Counseling Psychology in 2003 and served as an associate dean for three years.