Remembering Dr. Robert A. Crocker Jr., Founding Dean of HAPI

Northeast College of Health Sciences mourns the loss of Dr. Robert A. Crocker Jr., who died peacefully at his home in York, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 4, 2026. He was 75. Bob served this College as a trustee, as chair of the Board, and as founding Dean of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Instruction (HAPI) program. His work helped shape who we are today.

Bob was born in Brooklyn on July 16, 1951. He brought a broad education to his career. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and psychology from Boston College. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology and his Doctor of Chiropractic from National College of Chiropractic. He owned and operated Crocker Chiropractic in North Babylon, Long Island, for more than twenty years.

Bob was active in his professional communities. He served on the board of the New York State Chiropractic Association. He created a program to help new practitioners start their careers. In 1993 the association named him its Chiropractor of the Year. He was a Fellow of both the American and International Colleges of Chiropractors and a member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society.

Teaching was his other calling. Bob taught anatomy and physiology at several Long Island colleges. He became a professor of anatomy and physiology at SUNY Farmingdale and retired from there in 2019. He also served on our Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2008 and chaired the Board from 2007 to 2008.

Bob knew the undergraduate classroom from both sides, as a clinician and as a teacher. Many clinicians with doctoral degrees had a deep command of anatomy and physiology. Yet some regional accreditors held that clinical doctorates did not qualify faculty to teach these subjects at the undergraduate level. Those standards called for academic graduate degrees. Bob saw an opportunity in that gap. He helped build a graduate degree that would give clinicians and scientists both the academic credential and the preparation to teach well. The New York State Education Department approved the Master of Science in human anatomy and physiology instruction in 2010. The first students enrolled in January 2011, with Bob as founding Dean.

Bob believed students deserved instructors who were trained to teach. “Of the more than 1,500 undergraduate anatomy and physiology programs in the United States,” he noted, “very few are being taught by someone specifically educated to do so.” HAPI was built to change that. The program welcomed chiropractors, other advanced healthcare degree holders, and biologists with graduate degrees. It prepared them in both the science and the craft of teaching.

“I worked alongside Bob for many years,” said Michael A. Mestan, D.C., EdD, President of Northeast College. “He was passionate about educating future healthcare providers. He never stopped asking how we could teach better and how we would know it was working. He believed good teaching had to rest on good evidence. His colleagues respected him, and his students trusted him. HAPI exists because Bob cared so deeply about getting education right. Today I see his influence in HAPI graduates teaching in classrooms across the country. We will miss him.”

Outside of work, Bob loved golf, boating and traveling by RV. He was a devoted student of British naval history. Above all, he cherished his family. He is survived by Ginny, his wife of 52 years; his children, Evan and Leslie, and their spouses; four grandchildren, Ben, Hannah, Jack, and Lydia; and his siblings and extended family. We extend our deepest sympathy to Ginny and the entire Crocker family.

Those who wish to help keep Bob’s memory alive on our campus may do so through the Memorial Grove.