The History of the College of EHS

The College of Education and Human Services’ roots date back to the beginning of Kent State University. KSU was originally founded in 1910 as Kent State Normal School to train high school graduates in pedagogy and curriculum to become future teachers.

A grassroots campaign to grow it into a liberal arts college started in 1929. In March 1929 the Emmons-Hanna legislation changed Kent from a normal school to a college, authorizing courses leading to a B.S. in education and giving trustees authority - at the faculty's recommendation - to confer honorary degrees of the sort given by "colleges of liberal arts in the United States." The institution became known as Kent State University in 1935.

 

Flashes of Brilliance, Then and Now

Educate, Innovate, Lead

Kent State University has consistently served as a beacon of academic excellence, carving out a legacy as an institutional leader since its inception in the early 20th century. By continuously fostering innovation in educator preparation, trailblazing research, collaborative partnerships, and globalization, Kent State’s Golden Flashes have transformed regional initiatives into a powerful international footprint.

Igniting Leadership in Educator Preparation

Kent State's foundational roots as a teacher-training (normal) school remain central to its modern identity. The university's unwavering commitment to shaping future educators is prominently showcased through initiatives like the newly revised Rebecca Tolle and Burton W. Gorman Endowed Professorships for Leadership.

Originally established by the late TRW Inc. CEO Joseph Tolle Gorman to honor his parents—including his father, Burton W. Gorman, a dedicated faculty member from 1954 to 1972—the legacy was restructured to split the endowment into two specialized titled professorships. These prestigious roles allow esteemed faculty to lead critical initiatives that directly bolster school and community engagement while elevating Kent State’s national standing in workforce and educational leadership.

Showcasing a Culture of Top-Tier Research

As a premier, R1 public research university, Kent State provides its faculty and students with an electric environment to push intellectual boundaries. The annual College of Education and Human Services (EHS) Research Gallery serves as a vital testament to this rigorous research culture.

Forging Global Alliances and Partnerships

Kent State recognizes that solving modern challenges requires a coordinated, borderless approach. As such, the university has deliberately expanded its international footprint by strengthening strategic alliances across East Asia, Africa and Europe. These alliances enrich the domestic campus with diverse insights while providing Ohio students with unmatched opportunities to engage with the thriving global economy.

A Catalyst for International and Intercultural Exploration

Serving as the true epicenter of Kent State's globalization efforts is the Gerald H. Read Center for International and Intercultural Education. For decades, the Read Center has served as a powerful catalyst to advance cultural competency and global awareness across the university and the broader community.

The Read Center actively hosts hundreds of international scholars through distinguished programs like the Aggarwal-Blackburn Visiting Scholar program, the International Leaders in Education Program, and the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement in Media Literacy program. By driving the internationalization of the curriculum and offering deeply immersive study-abroad pathways, the center ensures that every Golden Flash graduates with the global fluency needed to thrive as an architect of a brighter, more interconnected future.

Professional standards produce high-quality teachers

In August 1946, University President George Bowman appointed Robert I. White as dean of education. A former high school teacher and principal, White was teaching graduate courses at the University of Chicago. He held a somewhat Platonic view of what a university should be. Hence, he remade the College of Education by measuring every aspect of the curriculum by rigorous "standards." White created a Student Qualification for Professional Standards program to produce high-quality teachers; however, it frustrated generations of education majors. Primary requirements included "adequate intelligence," a "strong academic record," a "desirable teaching personality," and understanding of how children learn, skill in using teaching resources and techniques, and an ability to "use and write English properly." A C average or higher in Freshman English and passing a special English composition test was required. Moreover, students with certain irreparable health or speech defects that could inhibit effective teaching would be "withdrawn" from the college. In 1958, White became vice president of Academic Affairs.

The formation of colleges

Twenty of the school's departments were subsequently arranged into three collegial divisions: the College of Education; the College of Business; and the College of Liberal Arts. With respect to the College of Education, Leebrick removed one of its bedrock courses, psychology, and corralled its 12 faculty members into three divisions - kindergarten primary, elementary and secondary.

The College of Education gained its own home in 1966 and its central location was formally named White Hall in 1985 after former Kent State president and dean of the College of Education, Robert I. White.

At the end of the '70s, an array of centers of excellence were created, including education professor Gerald H. Read's Center for the Study of Socialist Education (later renamed the Gerald H. Read Center for International and Intercultural Education) and the Child Development Center for teaching and research in early childhood education, among others.

As the College of Arts and Sciences grew throughout the 1950’s, the schools of Architecture, Art, Economics, Industrial Arts, Journalism, and Music and Speech merged to form the College of Fine and Professional Arts (F&PA) in 1959. The School of Exercise, Leisure and Sport was founded in 1994 and by 1998, merged with the College of F&PA to, according to former associate dean of the College of F&PA Gary Neiman, “create a home within Fine and Professional Arts for Health and Human Services.”

The College of Fine and Professional Arts, which in 2005 housed the schools of Exercise, Leisure and Sport; Family and Consumer Studies; and Speech Pathology and Audiology, merged with the College of Education in 2005 to form the College and Graduate School of Education and Human Services, now known as the College of EHS.

White Hall now stands as the headquarters of EHS, with Nixson Hall, the MACC Annex, and the Speech and Hearing Clinic all housing varieties of EHS schools, offices and classes. The College of Education and Human Services continues to grow and expand, and looks forward to future renovations of the buildings that house its rich history.

The History of the College of EHS

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