Raised in Dayton, Ohio, one of four children of immigrant parents, Lou Stamatakos graduated from Fairview High School in 1943. He entered the U.S. Army Corps Cadet program in that year and served as a Tail Gunner and Armorer in B -17 Flying Fortresses, Eighth Air Corps, Great Britain, flying 31 missions over Europe. He was awarded the following medals: Silver Star (Awarded Silver Star for Feb 28, 1945 gallantry in successfully dislodging bombs at his own peril on raid to Kassel), Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, European Theatre of Operations with three battle Stars, American Theatre of Operations, and the Victory, and Good Conduct medals.



At the end of World War II he entered Indiana University as a literature and speech major and was a varsity track team member, campus student leader and residence hall counselor.



Stamatakos holds three degrees from Indiana University, including the doctorate, and served in higher education for seventeen years as a student affairs administrator (residence halls, student activities, Dean of Men, Dean of Student Affairs), in five collegiate institutions prior to assuming teaching, research, advising, and coordinating responsibilities in the graduate school of the College of Education at Michigan State University in 1967. After serving MSU for twenty-five years, he retired in 1992 as Professor Emeritus of Higher Education Administration.



Stamatakos was an active member of professional associations, and published forty-four journal and periodical articles, three books, and five chapters in books, and has served as chair, presenter, panelist, and keynote speaker at over one hundred and sixty-three national, regional, state, and institutional conferences and workshops. He has been described as an, outspoken and caring critic of student affairs philosophy, professional preparation, and practice.



Over the years, Lou received seventeen citations and awards from a variety of organizations and institutions associated with higher education. In 1987, he became the first recipient of the NASPA Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Faculty Member, and in 1989, he was named Senior Scholar by ACPA. In 1991 he became the first member of ACPA to win all of its major awards when he received its Contribution to Knowledge Award.



Stamatakos (died 2011) lived in Okemos, Michigan, with his wife, Bess, a retired Philosophy and Humanities Professor. They have three sons, Philip (died 2016), Theodore and Timothy, and nine grandchildren