George D. Stoddard

Stoddard was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, where he would be class valedictorian when he graduated from high school in 1915. He grew up Methodist but would become a Unitarian later in life.{{cite magazine|last=McNutt|first=Steve|date=Winter 2013|volume=72|number=1|magazine=The Annals of Iowa|title=A Dangerous Man: Lewis Terman and George Stoddard, their Debates on Intelligence Testing, and the Legacy of the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station|pages=1–30|url= http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1671&context=annals-of-iowa |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151130214742/http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1671&context=annals-of-iowa |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 30, 2015 }}

After graduating high school he worked at a bank before enrolling at Pennsylvania State University where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. He left college to serve in World War I as a second lieutenant of infantry in the U.S. Army. After the war he returned to Penn State and received his A.B. degree in 1921.{{cite magazine|date=May 1936|volume=23|number=1|magazine=The Emerald of Sigma Pi|title=Theta Alumnus is Advanced|page=22|url= http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1936/SP_EMERALD_VOL_23_NO_1_MAY_1936.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161028021732/http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1936/SP_EMERALD_VOL_23_NO_1_MAY_1936.pdf|url-status= usurped|archive-date= October 28, 2016}} He then returned to Europe to study child psychology at the University of Paris where he studied under Theodore Simon and received a diploma. He went on to receive his doctorate at the University of Iowa in 1925.

His teaching career began at the University of Iowa where he became a professor of psychology after graduation. He would go on to be the department chair and dean of the graduate school.

In 1929 he was appointed director of the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station. While director of the station he would debate with Dr. Lewis Terman of Stanford University on the nature of intelligence and the usefulness of intelligence testing. Stoddard defended the view that environment and intelligence influenced each other. Terman advocated that intelligence was unchanging and based almost entirely on heredity.

Stoddard was named president of the University of the State of New York and Commissioner of Education in September 1942. As commissioner he was vocally against letting 14 year olds drop out of school to work because they could potentially be exploited.

In 1946, he was assigned to General Douglas MacArthur to advise on establishing a new Japanese educational system. He was also asked by Emperor Hirohito to find a tutor for Prince Akihito. He was then assigned to the U.S. delegation for UNESCO at their first meeting in Paris.

Later in 1946, Stoddard was named president of the University of Illinois. While at Illinois, he oversaw postwar expansion which included doubling the faculty and opening branch campuses in Chicago and Galesburg. His tenure was marred by left-wing student activism and disputes over academic philosophies in the economics department which led to clashes with the state's legislature.{{cite web |url=https://archives.library.illinois.edu/slcold/researchguides/coldwar/universitypolitics/stoddard.php |website=archives.library.illinois.edu |publisher=Student Life and Culture Archival Program – University of Illinois |title=The Rise and Fall of President George D. Stoddard |date=

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028023419/https://archives.library.illinois.edu/slcold/researchguides/coldwar/universitypolitics/stoddard.php |archive-date=2016-10-28 |url-status=dead}}

He had a falling out with the Board of Trustees over university-supported research on Krebiozen, a drug claimed to be a cancer cure. When he ordered an end to funding for the research in 1953, he lost a “no confidence” vote with the trustees and resigned.

After leaving Illinois, Stoddard was hired by NYU to chair a self-study of the university's role in the urban community. The study led to the reorganization of the School of Education's curriculum and administration.{{cite web|url=http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/m/snapshots/history_of_deans|publisher=steinhardt.nyu.edu|title=History of the Deans – Snapshots of Steinhardt – NYU Steinhardt|accessdate=2016-11-27}}

Stoddard became dean of the department of education in 1956. In 1960 he was named chancellor and executive vice president of the university. In 1962 he opened the first center for Hebrew studies at a public university. He retired in 1964 but remained a distinguished professor of education for three years.

In 1967 he came out of retirement to serve as vice chancellor of LIU. His main focus was starting the university's Brooklyn center. He was promoted to chancellor and eventually retired again in 1969.

Stoddard's first love was always elementary education. He championed departmentalized elementary education and educational technology. He also advocated the social value of play where he said, On the playing fields of America, our youth each day can learn to accept and understand racial and religious differences.

Stoddard was active in many groups outside of education. He was a member of the board of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. He also completed a report for the Carnegie Corporation on operations and programming for the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.{{cite magazine|date=Summer 1969|volume=56|number=2|magazine=The Emerald of Sigma Pi|title=Alumni News From Everywhere|page=70|url= http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1969/SP_EMERALD_VOL_56_NO_2_SUMMER_1969.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160918192706/http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1969/SP_EMERALD_VOL_56_NO_2_SUMMER_1969.pdf|url-status= usurped|archive-date= September 18, 2016}}

Stoddard married Margaret Trautwein on December 26, 1925.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6626482/miss-margaret-trautwein-and-george-d/ |title=Miss Margaret Trautwein and George D Stoddard Wedding Announcement |date=29 December 1925 |newspaper=Scranton (PA) Republican |access-date=10 July 2020 |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}} They had three sons, Phillip, Arthur, and Alfred, and two daughters, Caroline and Eleanor.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6626260/alfred-stoddard-obituary/ |title=Alfred Stoddard Obituary |date=19 December 1974 |newspaper=Iowa City (IA) Press-Citizen |access-date=10 July 2020 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Stoddard died on December 28, 1981. He is interred on Hart Island in New York City.{{Cite web|title=George Stoddard|url=https://www.hartisland.net/burial_records/36608-george-stoddard|access-date=2021-01-03|website=www.hartisland.net}}

• “Krebiozen,” The Great Cancer Mystery (Boston: Beacon Press, 1955)
• Paranoids Versus the People (Kalamazoo, 1953).
• The Pursuit of Education: An Autobiography (New York: Vantage Press, 1981).
• The Meaning of Intelligence (New York: Macmillan Company, 1943).

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Category:1897 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:United States Army personnel of World War I

Category:Leaders of the University of Illinois

Category:People from Carbondale, Pennsylvania

Category:United States Army officers

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Category:20th-century American academics

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Category:University of Iowa faculty

Category:New York University faculty

Category:Sigma Pi members