He was appointed Acting Chancellor, somewhat unwillingly due to health concerns, following the departure of Edward Litchfield.

The university honored him with the title of 13th Chancellor four months after his death.

Crawford first moved to Pittsburgh in 1922 as a graduate student.

He received his doctorate in 1926 in zoology at the University of Pittsburgh, and became an instructor and eventually professor of biology starting in 1924.

[3] Crawford Hall, completed in 1968 on Tennyson Avenue on Pitt's campus, is named in his honor.