Former NIU communications professor Paul Crawford, 81, died Tuesday in Oak Crest_DeKalb Area Retirement Center, 2944 Greenwood Acre Drive.

NIU communications professor Richard Johannessen said Crawford was "considered one of the founders of the (NIU communications) department."

The department only had been in existence two years when Crawford joined NIU in 1940, Johannessen said.

Crawford taught at NIU until his retirement in 1974.

Johannessen called Crawford a "major builder in communications at NIU, especially in terms of the graduate program."

The communications department each year grants an award in Crawford's name for excellence in graduate study.

The Mass of the Resurrection will be held for Crawford at 11 a.m. this morning in Christ the Teacher Parish of the Newman Center, 512 Normal Road.

Visitation services will be from 9 to 10:45 a.m. in Ronan-Moore Mortuary, 310 Oak. Burial will be in St. Mary Cemetery.