University of Nebraska Kearney - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Kearney, NE)

Page 23 text:

Tke Plainsmen Leaders “To train tomorrow’s leaders is our task-”

Page 25 text:

PIONEER CAPTAINS. b f w I I I i DR. A. O. THOMAS. Commissioner of Education. Angusta, Maine. Augustus Oliff Thomas......... It is a name we speak with pride, a pride which grows steadily as the years pass. To us. Doctor Thomas is more than the first president of our school. He is its organizer and its guiding power. His is essentially the tempera- ment of the pioneer, for he possesses unfailing courage, abounding energy, clear vision, a faith that looks through discouragement. Today Augustus O. Thomas is using his talents for the cause of education, in fields of the greatest scope and influence. The spirit of the man remains with the school which he built. GEORGE STUART DICK. Mr. George Stuart Dick, president 1914-1919, now State Supervisor of Rural Schools in Wisconsin, succeeded Dr. Thomas. Under the leadership of Mr. Dick, a number of outstanding changes were made, looking forward to a Teachers College. The reorganization of the course of study and the adoption of the hour basis for class recitations are significant. The rural department was created and affiliation with rural school instituted. The study center or fore-runner of the present Extension department was organized and developed. Mr. Dick's patriotic zeal and enthusiasm greatly aided the school in its ready response to the many demands made during the great war. The building program in this ad- ministration gave the institution the gymnasium and tine auditorium. The interior decora- tion of the auditorium is a lasting tribute to Mr. Dick’s artistic taste. —17—