Online Edition | Washington State University | Pullman, Washington | Friday, September 21, 2001

Graduate News
Perseverance and pig sale
lead to first Ph.D.;
graduate education celebrates 100 years
BY ROBERT FRANK, WSU Today

Lawrence Almon Barnes’ family was poor, "dirt poor" according to his daughter, Janet Prochazka. But family economics did not stop him from understanding the value of a college education. If anything, it made him more determined to get a degree. And he did, several times.

"He sold his pet pig, Paddy, to pay for his first year at Whitworth College and to buy his first suit of clothes," said Prochazka, who came to WSU Sept. 10 to donate memorabilia to commemorate her father’s life. "He told me it broke his heart to have to sell that pig, he’d been raising it since it was a piglet."

Obviously, times and tuition costs were different in the 1920s, but the intrinsic value of education has not changed.

Barnes, who grew up in the Spokane Valley, went on to work his way through college. After two years of classes, he transferred to the State College of Washington, now WSU, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in bacteriology and normal diploma (for teaching) in June 1925. Joining the ranks of the college’s graduate assistants, he worked his way through a master of science degree in bacteriology in June 1928. One year later, he grabbed the prestigious honor of being the first person to earn a doctorate from the State College of Washington.

INVITATION TO CELEBRATE
Barnes is one of many people and events that will be recognized Sept. 26, when WSU’s Graduate School kicks off a yearlong celebration commemorating 100 years of graduate education and launching its second century of service.

A Century of Graduate Education Scholars Recognition Reception will be held from 4:30-6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, in the Lewis Alumni Centre. The reception will feature:

• A brief overview of the milestones, growth and evolution of WSU graduate education;

• Announcements of Second Century Graduate School Fellowships; and

• Recognition of Graduate School Scholars, McNair Scholars, Achievements and Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholars, and more.

THE FIRST WOMAN
Since WSU’s founding in 1890, more than 20,000 students have received master’s degrees, and 6,500 have earned doctorates. Today, WSU offers 70 master’s and 44 doctoral degrees university wide.

William Hereford Lawrence of Sequim, Wash., earned the university’s first master’s degree in botany in 1902.

Josephine M. Hoeppner took the honors as the first woman graduate student, earning a master’s degree in foreign language and literature in 1908.

Over the years, the university has offered graduate degrees in more than 170 topics, said Karen DePauw, Graduate School dean. Some have been discontinued and new ones developed to reflect the needs of students and the business community.

THREE GOALS
There are three major goals to this year’s event, DePauw said: 1) Recognize and celebrate 100 years of graduate education; 2) Increase the visibility of graduate education, both internally and externally; and 3) Help raise money for graduate fellowships.

"We have obtained enough funding to provide grants to 100 second-century graduate students," she said. The Graduate School seeks to start off the next hundred years of graduate education with strong enrollment levels.

DePauw said the school’s yearlong celebration will be infused into a wide variety of regularly scheduled university activities, including department and college lectures and events, library exhibits, museum exhibits, performances and more.

GAINING IMPORTANCE
"In this century, graduate education will become increasingly important," DePauw said. "More than 43 million people in the United States have baccalaureate degrees. And, studies show that people tend to change careers seven times in their lifetime. Many people will need retooling and retraining to meet the changing needs (in the job market) and to answer the more complex issues and questions of today.

"One of the most impressive things about our graduate degree alumni is that so many have gone on to make significant contributions to society, industry and education," she added. Some examples:

• Philip H. Abelson, M.S. in Physics, known as the father of the atomic submarine;

• John C. Folger, M.S. in Horticulture, U.S. ambassador to Belgium;

• Howard Bowen, M.A. in Economics, chancellor of Claremont University and president of the University of Iowa, Grinnell College and the American Association of Higher Education;

• Orville A. Vogel, Ph.D. in Agronomy, led research in wheat development;

• William J. Wilson, Ph.D. in Sociology, a prominent sociologist noted for research into the black underclass;

• Leo K. Bustad, M.S. in Agriculture and D.V.M., educator, scientist and humanitarian;

• Laurence J. Peter, Ed.D., co-author of the international bestseller The Peter Principle: Why Things Go Wrong;

• Gladys Jennings, M.S. in Home Economics, food science professor at WSU;

• Charles U. Smith, Ph.D. in Sociology, dean of the Graduate School at Florida A&M University;

• Norman T. Woo, Ph.D. in Math, president of the Chinese Faculty Association at California State University;

• John Gorham, M.S. in Veterinary Medicine and D.V.M., a national leader in animal disease research; and

• William R. Wiley, Ph.D. in Bacteriology, senior vice president of Battelle Memorial Institute and director of Battelle Pacific Northwest Division.

PENICILLIN AND PEARL HARBOR
Barnes is another good example of how WSU graduates go on to make practical and significant contributions to society.

Prochazka said in the mid-1930s, he went to work in the Boston area where he was one of the nation’s "earliest researchers in the uses of penicillin against pneumonia. He wasn’t the only person doing research with penicillin, but he was one of the early ones investigating what illnesses it could conquer."

Timing was an interesting factor in Barnes’ life as well. On Dec. 7, 1941, Barnes walked a short distance from home to drop his enlistment papers into the mail, Prochazka said. "When he returned home, the radio was announcing the bombing of Pearl Harbor."

For the next 22 years, Barnes worked as a researcher and educator in the U.S. Navy, at which time he retired. He went on to become the director of public health in Randolf, Mass., near Boston.

Barnes also worked at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in November 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot and brought in from Dallas.

Interestingly, Barnes also appears to have been a man ahead of his time, helping found the university’s "Diversity Club" in 1924. According to library historians, this is believed to be one of the first organized independent residential houses on campus.

Throughout his career, Prochazka said, her father’s "real passion was research and teaching."

Prochazka noted that her mother, Eleanor, was also a pioneer in education, graduating among the first class of six women from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then going on to get her master’s degree in diet and nutrition.

Lawrence Almon Barnes (back row, second from the left) is among the founders of the university's "Diversity Club" in 1924.  The club was listed among the "fraternities" at the State College of Washington.  It is believed to be one of the college's first organized independent residential houses.