Leonard I. Krimerman

With great sadness and deep love, we announce the passing on December 31, 2025 of Leonard I. Krimerman, a distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut.  His beloved wife and partner of more than 45 years, Marian L. Vitali D.C., was by his side.  Len was born in 1934 to Mina (Fields) and Samuel Krimerman of New York City.  Len grew up on Manhattan’s upper West Side and attended Bronx High School of Science before enrolling in Cornell University, where he earned his B.A. in 1955 and Ph.D. in philosophy in 1964.  During the 1960’s, Len taught philosophy at Louisiana State University (LSU) in New Orleans, establishing long lasting friendships and in 1968 he began an impactful career teaching in the Philosophy Department at the University of Connecticut.  Len lived a rich and pioneering life as a community-engaged professor and a leading light of the worker democracy and grassroots economic cooperative movement.

Sixty Years: Mentor and Maverick

Where does one begin to honor Leonard Krimerman, whose life’s work spanned six decades. He was dedicated to ideals of social and economic justice, the importance of human dignity, and the power of people from all walks of life to develop democratic capacities in shaping their own education, workplaces, and governance.  He helped put these building blocks in place to nurture imagination and grow the dreams of many.  Len genuinely supported and guided the budding ideas of many students and organizations, ushering in a new wave of citizens who could contribute to constructive social change.  Numerous friends and colleagues speak of Len’s undaunted dedication, genius approaches, and generous spirit, giving freely of his time, resources, and encouragement. 

Len shared his skills and vision, firstly, through teaching and mentoring.  Within his classroom, student opportunities arose for self-directed learning and for community engagement, bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Secondly, Len focused on building cooperative economies within communities, working with national and international organizations.  Through networking and collaboration, he played a crucial role in the development of many local co-ops and alternative economic initiatives, especially in the Willimantic, Connecticut. area.             

Thirdly, Len’s own scholarly engagement highlighted democratic models for education and for a hopeful, just economy. Along with collaborators, he founded magazines and published books on the worker co-op movement.  Whether through writing in a journal or in the regional newspaper, Neighbors, Len was hopeful for positive social change.  What follows will capture poignant examples of these three areas of Len’s own engaged life.

Len’s career in academia began in the early 1960’s with a position in the Philosophy Department at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. There he fell in love with the city’s vibrant, diverse culture, became involved in local activism for civil rights, and participated in some of the foundational discussions in American political philosophy of the 1960’s.  He was acknowledged in the preface of John Rawls’s seminal work, A Theory of Justice.  New Orleans proved to be fertile ground for Len’s growing interest in anarchism, which led him to co-edit, with Lewis Perry, Patterns of Anarchy, an anthology of anarchist writing, widely acknowledged to be a seminal contribution in its field, soon to be followed by The Nature and Scope of Social Science and five more volumes which he authored or edited alone or collaboratively.

In 1968 Len joined the Philosophy Department at the University of Connecticut, where he established his long journey of “embodied philosophy” bringing a spirit of innovation and engagement that would influence the Storrs campus for decades to come.

Drawing on his scholarly interests in community-building, social ecology, alternative education and worker cooperatives, he designed and taught his courses from an interdisciplinary perspective, inspiring students to integrate theory and practice through hands-on learning.  Len’s first such endeavor was the formation of the Inner College (1969-1975) at the University of Connecticut, in which he spearheaded its founding, participated as director, and taught and advised students. The idea emerged during one of his philosophy classes, while discussing self-governing academic communities.   This innovative educational initiative emphasized student-directed learning and community engagement, significantly impacting students and alumni who have gone on to contribute meaningfully to many community and civic projects.  See Inner College link below.

Len’s legacy of university-to-community engagement is exemplified by his long-term involvement with Willimantic, Connecticut, a former manufacturing center with high rates of poverty and unemployment, located close to the UConn campus. There, he was instrumental in developing initiatives such as a tutoring and mentoring program for underserved children in the public schools.  Also, in the mid-1970s, Len was part of the Federation for Economic Development (FED) founding a chapter in Connecticut.  In 1978 it became the Industrial Cooperative Association (ICA Group) – the first of many “technical assistance” organizations in the US focused on supporting worker owned enterprises.  As a founding board member of ICA, Len helped start the worker owned (mostly women) International Poultry Cooperative in eastern Connecticut, and as a Board member, along with several UConn students, assisted the workers to develop business skills to run their Co-op.  Over the decades, both locally and elsewhere, Len was instrumental in the development of numerous co-ops.

Len’s passion for economic justice did not confine itself to the local level only. He was a major architect of the worker cooperative movement, founding organizations and publications to ensure its success.  In 1983 Len and three colleagues founded Changing Work magazine.  Many students helped with the writing, editing, and production. The goal of the founders was to help build solidarity and collaboration among the disconnected groups seeking to increase democracy at work.  This magazine provided a forum to share experiences, resources and strategies as well as feature interviews and articles by practitioners, rank-and-file co-op owners and established authors. Changing Work fostered alliances between these groups and others with allied goals.

While working to foster cooperative economics and worker self-management in the U.S., in 1988 Len became increasingly active in the, International Institute of Self-Management (IIS), as a board member and presenter at conferences. The IIS was a cross-border organization of practitioners and researchers of workplace democracy which was active for decades. Through this organization, Len developed robust relationships with kindred spirits in Dubrovnik, Frankfurt, Great Britain, U.S. and elsewhere.

In 1991, a new publication was formed in place of Changing Work magazine, Len was one of the two founders of, Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) newsletter in which students were also important collaborators.  This publication, both on-line and in print,  is alive and well today.  With an international reach, GEO is a decentralized collective of educators, researchers and grassroots activists working to promote an economy based on democratic participation, worker and community ownership, social and economic justice, and ecological sustainability--a "solidarity economy"—through grassroots journalism, organizing support, cross-sector networking and movement-building, and the publication of educational and organizational resources ( https://geo.coop/ ).

After Len had newly retired in 2006, he turned to UConn’s Continuing Studies Center to collaboratively develop, and by 2008 direct a Bachelor of General Studies program in Public and Community Engagement (PACE).  This gave rise to the Connecticut Cooperative Business Academy and the Willimantic Inter-cooperative Zone, incubators for a number of new grassroots economic ventures in the area.  In 2009, Len and his “co-conspirator” friend, Frank Lindenfeld, were awarded, Cooperative Educator and Advocate of the Year, from the Eastern Conference of Workplace Democracy, which GEO helped to found.

Embarking on a new project in 2015, through the GEO newsletter, Len began publishing a series of short, deeply personal memoirs reflecting on his life’s work, guided by the question: “What makes you come alive?”  This focus was inspired by a quote from theologian Howard Thurman: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  True to his core values, Len wasn’t content to simply tell his own story. He called for a movement of “memoiristas”- a dynamic community of creators telling unique “coming alive” stories. Those who knew him well may see in this a perfect metaphor for Len’s vision of democracy—a beautiful balance of love for each individual and belief in the power of collective action to connect, transform and heal.  See Memoir link below.

Whether through the Inner College or teaching through the Philosophy Department, Len’s vision for educational innovation made a lasting impact, fostering opportunities for students to engage in meaningful community development activities beyond the traditional classroom setting throughout his teaching career. His approach to teaching earned him an Excellence Award for Teaching Mentorship from the American Association of University Professors in 2001.  

Len’s final offering as a Professor Emeritus, fittingly was a graduate student-led course in the Philosophy of Education and Engagement PECE).  By 2018, graduate students took the lead role in directing the class, with opportunities to learn skills as community-engaged educators.  Tutelage by Len and then by other faculty of record, was in the spirit of student-initiated learning.                      

This graduate course had found its own wings and Leonard Krimerman as a professor and mentor had come full circle in his maverick life of inspiring and being inspired by the bright light within each student, community, and collaborator.                                

“Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.”                  John Dewey, American philosopher / educational reformer. 

In addition to his wife Marian Vitali, Len is survived by his brothers-in law and sisters-in-law Phillip and Valerie Vitali, and Paul Vitali and Paige Fordice; and many dear cousins, nieces, a nephew, and grand-nieces.  His family was his welcoming harbor, with conversation, food, and hope in the younger generations.

The family would like to acknowledge the many friends, colleagues, former students, and neighbors who provided comfort during Len’s illness and friendship during his lifetime, and express gratitude to the staff at Douglas Manor for their care during his final months.

Over the past year, in recognition of and inspired by Professor Krimerman’s contributions to educational programs, a group of UConn alumni, (from the Inner College), established a fund through the UConn Office of Outreach & Engagement. This fund supports student-led community service projects, passing on the torch of Professor Leonard Krimerman’s legacy.  Krimerman Community Engagement Grants | Office of Outreach and Engagement See donations below 

A memorial celebration of Len’s life will take place on 

April 25, 2026, at 11AM                                                                                                           Unitarian Universalist Society East Church                                                                               153 Vernon St. West,                                                                                           

Manchester, Ct.        

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Len Krimerman’s memory to:

1.  Professor Leonard I. Krimerman Student-Directed Community Service Fund  

tax deductible donation

2. GEO (Grassroots Economic Organizing) on-line and in print newsletter https://geo.coop/donate   tax deductible donation                                                            

Written by Len

1. “Anarchism at UCONN, the Inner College Experiment”,  Inner College

2. Len’s memoir, Coming Alive in Dangerous Times, in GEO, https://geo.coop/collection/coming-alive-dangerous-times-divergent-memoir            

3. Articles by Len in Neighbors newspaper, neighborspaper@yahoo.com 

   Contact Tom King