The Professor

Dr. Lynn Croshaw had plans to be a medical doctor, but a Rotary Club Fellowship in 1963 turned Croshaw’s focus to education.

After graduating from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, Croshaw received a fellowship to study at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. At Makerere University, Croshaw decided he wanted to be an educator instead of a doctor, his wife Audrey Croshaw said.

“He really wanted to become an M.D., but life has many twists and turns as we know,” said Audrey. “He spent a year of his life in Africa after he graduated with his degree from Bates College. He spent a year living amongst the people, learning the language, and going to school there. It was quite an experience for him.”

When he returned to the United States, he went to the University of Maryland, College Park, and earned his doctorate. While working on his doctorate, he taught classes at the University of Maryland.

His next step brought him and his wife to Florence, S.C., where he became a professor in the biology department at Francis Marion in 1970, the year Francis Marion, then College, was founded. At the time, the campus consisted of two buildings.

Croshaw would go on to teach anatomy, genetics, embryology, and neurology at the university until his retirement as professor emeritus in 2004.

The Croshaws had three children, Dr. Randal Lee Croshaw, Kevin John Croshaw, and Deborah Bledsoe.

Lynn Croshaw died on May 25, 2016.

Audrey Croshaw said she wanted to do something to help others get an education after the death of her husband. The Dr. Lynn M. Croshaw Endowed Scholarship was established through the Francis Marion University Education Foundation in December 2019.

“It was something that had been in my heart for a while,” she said. “He loved to help people … and he loved teaching. I just thought that was the best way we could do something.”

The scholarship will be awarded to a junior or senior student pursuing a degree in biology and planning to teach at the high school or college level. Preference is given to biology majors seeking a doctorate.

Croshaw would not have been able to pursue a college education without receiving scholarships, Audrey Croshaw said.

Lynn Croshaw was born in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, in 1940. He was raised by his grandparents – John Phillip and Elizabeth Croshaw – from the age of 5.

“There wasn’t a lot of money for people to do things,” she said. “His grandparents were farmers. His whole life, his granddad raised tomatoes for Campbell Soup Co.”

Scholarships and a Rotary Fellowship brought Dr. Lynn Croshaw to education, Florence, and Francis Marion University.

The Croshaws watched the university grow from just two buildings in 1970 into what it is today. Now, they will also help others pursue a biology degree at Francis Marion through the Dr. Lynn M. Croshaw Endowed Scholarship in memory of Croshaw’s legacy.