University of Nebraska Lincoln - Cornhusker Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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COLLEGE OF DEAN C. H. OLUFflTHER To the class of 1936: Here you are Seniors, and the last time I ever addressed you as a group was in Freshman Lecture, now nearly four years ago. fls administrative officer of the University ' s largest college it is unfortunately impossible for me to enjoy the personal and mtimate contacts had by other faculty members. That is not as it should be, certainly not as I would like to have it be. This constitutes another argument for a Stu- dent Union building, but also, and far better, for some sort of an auditorium on Nebraska ' s campus, in which each college could hold a college convoca- tion ever so often, I have taught in small colleges where chapels were held every day, and most of us thought that every day seemed a little too often, especially when the professors had to take turns in conducting the chapel services. Nevertheless, it would be nice for all the students of the College of Arts and Sciences here to get together a few times each year so that they would come to know each other and the faculty better, fin auditorium to fill this need is something you as alumni can work for, through the University Foundation which will soon be established. The best wish with which I can send you from our halls is that your life may be one of effort, because only that kind of life is worthwhile, find should material success crown your efforts, remember your fllma Mater. Most sincerely. Cyi iA jl a j;::

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AGRICULTURE Students leam to identily and judge cuts ol moat A draw-bar test at the Unive.sily tractor- tosling station w W. BURR, dean of the College oi Agricul- ture, spent his childhood in Indiana and grew to manhood in Virginia, and thus he is fundamentally a combination of Hoosier and Virginian, He received his education in the schools of both of these states, end his college training at Virginia Polytechnic Institute end the University of Nebraska, where he received his bachelor of science degree in 1906. Following his graduation he accepted a posi- tion cooperative with the Department of Agri- culture and the University, at the North Platte substation. Here he took up the problems of dry land agriculture, on which very little infor- mation was available at that time. He became impressed with the necessity of adapted crops, and developed many of the fundamental prin- ciples of the limitations and possibilities of moisture storage, its recovery at various depths by crops; capacity of the soil to retain moisture, and other things vital to the soil management of the plains. He has written rather extensively along these lines. From 1913 to 1916 he wcs employed by the U. S. Department of Agricul- ture in the supervision of dry-lend agricultural investigations in the Great Plains. In 1916 he became chairman of the Department of Agron- omy and in 1928 he was appointed dean. Fishing is Dean Burr ' s favorite pastime, and he has hooked fish in both the Atlantic and Pacific and in every lake, river, and creek between them where he has had an oppor- tunity. He likes to take his family on trips, and so a vacation to him means an automobile trip with Mrs. Burr, the two children, and the tackle. The College of Agriculture is different from all other colleges in the University in that if is an entirely separate unit in itself, and also in that it has under its supervision experiment stations and agricultural schools throughout the state. It is the duty of the Dean to visit these various establishments and to review the work being carried on there. With the constantly increasing federal interest in farming, added responsibility falls to the lot of the Agricultural College. Judging by increased enrollments, this interest extends also to those future citizens of Nebraska who recognize the value of learning scientific methods of agriculture and home economics Through the use of laboratories and experimental gardens, work learned in theory is put into actual practice. In a state half of whose population consists of farming peoples, it is commendable to note that the necessity for such training is being recognized. Industry and democracy are promoted by the very nature and planning of the courses, and with such a person as Dean Burr for inspiration and guid- ance, these ideals are truly inculcated into the lives of the graduates. U of N

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ARTS AND SCIENCES A geography class on the second lloor ol Former Museum Sludenta carry out laboratory experiment! in Chemiitry Hall AN odd late decreed that Dean Oldfathers birthplace should be so near the ancient part of the world to which he has devoted so much of his study and time. From Tabriz, Persia, he came to the U. S. with his parents in 1890. Mr. Oldfather obtained his fl.B. degree at Hanover (Indiana) college in 1906, in 1911 he graduated from McCormick Theological Sem- inary with a B.D. degree, fl year ' s graduate study at the University ol Munich followed. For the next two years he taught at the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, Palestine. Return- ing to the states, he taught at Hanover College, and later, at Wabash College in Crawlordsville, Indiana. In 1922 he received his Ph.D. Irom the University ol Wisconsin, in 1922 Hanover Col- lege awarded his LL.D. degree. Dean Oldfather came to this campus in 1926 to leach ancient history; in 1929 he became head ol the history department. He was elected in 1932 to the position he now holds. He smilingly admits that he used to be a wicked perlormer on the guitar and used to sing in a church choir. For many years, how- ever, his hobby has been the translation ol classics. In 1922 he wrote The Greek Literary Papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt . In collaboration with his brother, a professor at the University of Illinois, he has made a 1,400 page translation of Pulendorls The Law ol Nature and Nations lor the Carnegie Endowment lor International Peace. He recently completed the second vol- ume ol the translation ol Diodorus ol Sicily which he is doing lor the Loeb Classical library. The completed work will comprise 10 volumes. Dean Oldlather is actively interested in the present, too, and since 1932 has extensively studied possible ways to alter and improve the college ' s curriculum and graduation require- ments. I ' m a strong believer that the state university must oiler a broader curriculum than private educational institutions try to do. If must delinitely do something lor all young people who come to us Irom the state. He conducted a recent survey ol colleges lor the North Central Association ol Secondary Schools and Colleges, and is a member ol the committee on Enlistment and Enrollment ol Colleae Teachers in the Association ol Amer- ican Colleges. Dean Oldlather was a member ol the Indiana Public Library commission from 1922-1925 and is an ex-president of the Indiana Library Trustees Association. Among the organizations to which he belongs are Phi Delta Theta, Amer- ican Historical Society, American Philological Association, American Association of University Professors, and the Classical Association of the Middle West U of N