WSU biochemists Rod Croteau and Linda Randall were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. They joined four other WSU researchers in the academy: C.A. “Bud” Ryan, a biochemist; Jim Cook, a USDA plant pathologist at WSU; John Hirth, a materials scientist; and Dieter H. von Wettstein, a plant geneticist.
WSU names Thompson Hall for Albert Wilder Thompson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at WSU from 1953-64. It had formerly just been known as the Administration Building, but those functions had moved to French Hall in 1967-1968.
John Gorham, internationally renowned veterinarian and WSU faculty member, received the 28th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award. Gorham was the first student to earn a graduate degree from the College of Veterinary Medicine and contributed heavily to the study of feline and canine disease.
He previously had won the same award in 1990.
The space shuttle Columbia carries WSU science experiments into space. The first from WSU physicist Philip Martson and the second from WSU plant scientists.
The Washington State Historical Society recognizes trailblazers from WSU in the Washington Centennial Hall of Honor: Philip Abelson (Class of 1933), “Father of the Atomic Submarine;” Enoch Bryan, WSC president (1893-1916); Gary Larson (Class of 1972), acclaimed Far Side cartoonist; Edward R. Murrow (Class of 1930), preeminent broadcast journalist; Archie Van Doren (Class of 1937), father of controlled atmosphere storage for apples, conducted research for WSU at its Wenatchee Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center; Orville Vogel (Class of 1939), agronomist who revolutionized wheat breeding, made possible the Green Revolution. He worked for the USDA at WSU in Pullman.
Leo K. Bustad, Dean Emeritus of College of Veterinary Medicine and internationally recognized speaker, humanist, and founder of People & Pet Therapy programs, receives the 20th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award.
For the first time in the university’s history, WSU uses an early-start semester academic calendar. Although implemented in August 1984, the WSU Faculty Senate approved the calendar change in 1980.
Orville Vogel, developer of the world’s most productive wheat strains, receives Regents Ninth Distinguished Alumnus Award. Vogel received his Ph.D. at WSU in 1939 and stayed as faculty for several decades. His work helped start the “Green Revolution” in agriculture. He led the research team that produced the first commercially successful semi-dwarf wheats and was known for his inventions of scientific research equipment. He received the National Medal of Science, presented by President Ford in 1975, as well as the State of Washington Medal of Merit in 1987.
Geologist Roald Fryxell examines lunar rocks in Houston after all six manned moon landings. Fryxell was initially asked simply to present to the lunar teams on core-sample analysis, but so impressed NASA that he was asked to join the analysis team. A leader in the field of geoarchaeology, Fryxell was the co-principal investigator with Dr. Richard Daugherty of the Marmes Rockshelter site and designed the apparatus used for collecting the lunar rocks. A lunar crater is named Fryxell in his honor.
R.A. Nilan, geneticist, develops new barley strain with chemical mutagent.
Karl Sax, internationally acclaimed scientist, receives the seventh Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award. Sax attended then-WSC from 1912 to 1916, earning a bachelors of science in agriculture, and while at WSC he met and married his cytology teacher, Dr. Hally Jolivette. Sax is perhaps most well-known for his research in cytogenetics and the effect of radiation on chromosomes.
Life magazine features WSU animal science reproduction research. S.E. Hafez, animal physiologist as WSU, is the primary researcher in planet colonization.
Plant pathologist Frederick Heald donates his personal library to WSC, including 300 volumes and 10,000 reprints in plant pathology.
President Wilson Compton and his wife Helen use their own money to purchase a 52 acre mostly-undeveloped “resort” on Priest Lake’s Beaver Creek, for the use of WSC faculty and staff. Over the next few years Helen, with aid from her housekeeper Mary Warner, puts a significant amount of time and effort into renovating it. Individual lots are sold to WSC faculty and staff, and the resort is organized as the Beaver Creek Camp Association. As generations pass the BCCA’s ties to WSU have faded, but the Beaver Creek Camp Association still exists today on upper Priest Lake.
Arthur Drucker, Dean of the School of Mines and Geology, donates the Minnie Barstow Drucker Oriental Art Collection, valued then at $50,000. The gift is presented in the memory of his late wife. Eight years earlier, the Druckers donated a collection of over two hundred rare books on Asia to the WSC library. Arthur Drucker came to Pullman in 1926 and was heavily involved in mining research during his tenure at WSC, retiring in 1945.
Bryan, Enoch Albert, 1855-1941 at desk, 1937
After several years of trying to get state funding, the Board of Regents establishes WSC’s first retirement system, to begin on October 1st of 1941.
WSU’s Anjan Bose, an international expert in the power grid control industry, and Jim Asay, an expert in shock-wave research and high-pressure science, join The National Academy of Engineering. Bose is internationally known for his development of training simulators and computational tools for reliable power-system operation, and for contributions to education and research on power systems.
The Board of Regents selects V. Lane Rawlins to serve as the ninth president of WSU. He took office after serving as the president at University of Memphis. Rawlins was the first WSU faculty member to become president. He joined the economics faculty in 1968, later served as chair of the department of economics, and was WSU vice provost from 1982-86.
President Rawlins’ administration is best known for strengthening the WSU-UW relationship, giving the WSU branch campuses more autonomy, establishing December commencement, and Academic Showcase. He served as president until June 2007.
The WSU Veterans Memorial is dedicated on Veterans Day in 1993, honoring all alumni, faculty, and staff who died during 19th and 20th century conflicts. In 1996, the class of 1949, with help from former registrar James Quann, began a campaign to complete the memorial. It was rededicated on October 7, 2000.
R. James Cook, USDA plant pathologist and WSU professor, was elected into membership in the National Academy of Sciences.
On October 18, 1976, President Gerald Ford presented the National Medal of Science to WSU Professor Emeritus, Orville Vogel. Vogel helped develop wheat varieties with stronger stalks and higher yield potential, which now grow on five continents. This research launched the “Green Revolution,” a push in agricultural research to help feed the world’s hungry. Vogel worked at WSU from 1931 to 1973, receiving his Ph.D. here in 1939.
WSU signs a pact with the Kingdom of Jordan to provide educational services. A team of twelve staff members (all but one from Pullman) traveled to Jordan to assist the creation of animal science, plant pathology, irrigation, agricultural marketing, and other programs, working with Jordanian students and faculty.
WSU veterinarian Keith Farrell developed a freeze-branding technique for animals, reducing their pain and injury during the branding process.
Research Studies of the State College of Washington provides an avenue to publication for faculty and graduate students. The journal publishes a few issues before funding is cut due to the Great Depression. It is revived in 1935 and eventually becomes the WSU Press.
As the Great Depression deepens, the college is forced to reduce the salaries of faculty and staff by an average of 25 percent in order to meet reduced state appropriations. The budget granted to WSC for 1933-1935 through the legislature’s “barefoot schoolboy” measures represents a cut of 36.5 percent over previous budgets.
Due to widespread unemployment, enrollment falls, allowing President Holland to close Ferry and Stevens residence halls in the spring of 1933 and keep them closed until September 1934, saving as much as $6,000. The library budget suffers a cut of 33% in the 1933-34 college budget.
For students, dropping out of school for a semester or two to earn money was a common practice throughout the ’30s. Typical part-time jobs for women often involved cleaning and babysitting in private homes, while male students worked on farms surrounding the college.
In 1962, WSU archeologists Richard Daugherty and Roald Fryxell began excavating the Marmes Rockshelter, near where the Snake and Palouse rivers meet. During the excavation, they found what was then the oldest human remains in the western hemisphere at approximately 12,000 years old.
The site was scheduled to be flooded during the construction of the Lower Monumental Dam, but thanks to the discovery President Lyndon Johnson authorized the construction of a coffer dam to protect it. Unfortunately, in 1969, the site was flooded anyway because of leaks under the dam. It had only been partially excavated.
In the face of state budget cuts, the Regents order Compton to dismiss 182 employees, including the vice president. Compton resigns.
Van Doren Hall is built to house the domestic economy department. The building name honors Nancy Van Doren, an English instructor and the campus librarian.
The coursework is introduced with the arrival of Alfred A. Cleveland, assistant professor of psychology. The 1909-1911 course catalog describes the purpose of the education program as training physical science teachers who will further the application of science to industrial pursuits.
The college inaugurates the sport by defeating the University of Idaho, 10-0. The team doesn’t employ a paid coach until 1900, but advisers in the first couple years include newspaperman William Goodyear, agriculturalist William J. Spillman, and young athlete Fred Waite.
