Agency History
The evolution of the Workforce Education and Development Program at The Pennsylvania State University has materialized through
numerous changes in name, structure and location during its long history on the University Park campus. The program as it
is known today originated in 1920 in the School of Engineering and was called the Department of Industrial Education. On June
11, 1923, however, the Department of Industrial Education, under the leadership of Dr. A. S. Hurrell, Professor of Vocational
Education, moved from the School of Engineering to join three other academic units--Agricultural Education, Education and
Psychology, and Home Economics Education--in forming the School of Education, now the College of Education. The academic units
in the new college, with the exception of Education and Psychology, were subsidized primarily by funds from the Smith-Hughes
Act (Public Law 64-347, 1917).
Dr. Will Grant Chambers served as the first dean of the School of Education from 1923 to 1937. Chambers, who had studied under
G. Stanley Hall at Clark College and John Dewey at the University of Chicago, enjoyed a reputation as both a sound scholar
and a strong administrator. During Chambers' 14 years as Dean, F. Theodore Struck provided much of the leadership in the Department
of Industrial Education, serving as its head from the late 1920s through early World War II (Kapes and Welch, 1987). Dr. Struck
was a pioneer in the profession, having come to Penn State in 1926 after serving as State Supervisor of Industrial Education
and Director of the Vocational Bureau, State Department of Public Instruction (currently called the Pennsylvania Department
of Education). Struck was also a distinguished and forward-looking scholar, whose last textbook, Vocational Education for a Changing World, helped shape the profession in the post-war years (Kapes and Welch, 1987).
Several outstanding leaders served the profession under the five subsequent deans of the College of Education at The Pennsylvania
State University. Following Dean Chambers in 1937, Marion Rex Trabue, a student of the famous educator A. H. Thorndike, began
his nineteen-year deanship. During the Trabue years (1937-1956), S. Lewis Land served as department head of Industrial Education
and under Dr. Land's leadership the Department awarded its first master's and doctoral degrees in Industrial Education. In
1956, J. Ralph Rackley, formerly dean at the State College of Connecticut, dean of education at the University of Oklahoma,
and assistant commissioner in the U.S. Office of Education, became the third dean to lead the College of Education at Penn
State. During Rackley's six-year tenure from 1956 to 1962, Dr. Land remained in charge of the Department of Industrial Education.
Dr. Land was a formidable and enthusiastic educator who guided vocational education and teacher education at Penn State through
difficult times following World War II and up until his retirement in 1963.
In 1962, Dr. Abram W. Vandermeer, an Associate Dean in the College for several years succeeded Dean Rackley. Dr. Vandermeer,
the fourth dean of the College of Education, and an innovator with interest in technology, drew upon his experience in audio-visual
aids to establish the Computer Assisted Instructional (CAI) Laboratory. During the Vandermeer years, George Brandon and William
Williams provided the leadership for the Department of Industrial Education, which in 1963 became the Department of Vocational
Education.
In December of 1974, Henry J. Hermanowicz became the fifth dean of the College of Education. During the Hermanowicz years,
(1974-1989), the College of Education experienced a period of privation and transition, shifting from eleven academic units
or departments to six divisions. Hermanowicz designed this reorganization to save small departments and faculty positions
at a time when the College suffered a budgetary shortfall of $1.5 million and a loss of 30 faculty and staff positions (Hermanowicz,
personal communication, April 12, 1998). Several leaders provided distinguished service and leadership to the profession during
the Hermanowicz years, such as Joseph T. Impellitteri, Angelo C. Gilli, Edwin Herr, Elizabeth Ray, and Frederick G. Welch.
In 1990, Rodney J. Reed succeeded Dean Hermanowicz to become the sixth dean of the College of Education. During Dr. Reed's
administration, the College of Education received national recognition for the quality of its academic programs in both graduate
and undergraduate education.
Over the years, the faculty and staff in the Workforce Education and Development Program have promoted the mission of the
College with scholarly productivity and service to the profession. As of January 2005 the faculty, Professors Kenneth C. Gray,
David L. Passmore, William J. Rothwell; Associate Professors Edgar I. Farmer, Judith A. Kolb and Assistant Professors, Mary
J. Kisner and Richard A. Walter; and staff, Tammy Fetterolf, Kristine Sefchick, Bonnie Spicer, and Terri Watson, enjoy recognition
as being among the top three programs of its kind in the nation as rated by the U.S. News and World Report in 1997 and 1998.
During its earlier years, the Program remained oriented more toward preparing trade and industrial (T and I) education teachers.
But since 1994, the curriculum and students have become increasingly more diversified and now includes all aspects of learning
and human performance in the workplace.
[The preceding history is taken from Dr. Edgar I. Farmer's excellent article detailing the history of the Workforce Education
and Development Program at Penn State University, which can be found in the Spring, 1998 issue of the Workforce Education Forum. Dr. Farmer is currently Associate Professor of Education, and Director of Postsecondary Technical and Community College
Leadership in the Workforce Education and Development program at the Pennsylvania State University.]
Scope and Content
The Workforce Education and Development Program Records contains materials highlighting the evolution and development of the
program from its infancy, when it was known as the Department of Industrial Education and was part of the School of Engineering,
through its transition to the School (and later College) of Education and its various name changes (Vocational Education,
Vocational-Industrial Education, Industrial Education), to its present status as one of the top vocational education programs
in the country. The materials contained in this collection provide extensive information and insight into the past and more
recent research and scholarship in the field, as well as offering a glimpse into the life and times of Penn State students
of previous generations pursuing careers in Workforce Education and Development.
A large portion the Workforce Education and Development Program Records is comprised of Reports, which focus on a number of
areas of research, including: Vocational and Vocational-Technical Education, Continuing Education, Industrial Education, Leadership
Training, Computer Assisted Instruction, the Faculty Development Institute, the Special Education Speech and Hearing Clinic,
the Professional Personnel Development Center, and a study in conjunction with Penn State's WPSX-TV regarding educational
needs in the cable television industry. Another substantial portion of the collection is Bulletins, which reflect the various
changes in program requirements over the years, as well as providing a look into perspectives on life and career throughout
the 20th century. Among the other headings in this collection are Publications, Journals, Notes, Handbooks, and Reference
Guides, all of which further highlight the evolution and development of the program, as well as its contributions to the field
of Workforce Education.
