Dorothy Mae Reeves was an Assistant Professor of Secretarial Science from 1950 to 1952. She was born in 1909 in Aurora, Nebraska. She earned a diploma from the Van Sant School of Business in 1928 in Omaha, Nebraska. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Commerce, with additional study in English and psychology, from Iowa State Teachers College in 1934. She earned a Master of Arts in Business Education and Personnel Work, with additional study in guidance and administration in higher education, from New York University in 1946. She completed all the requirements for her PhD. at New York by 1950. Her doctoral thesis was titled “A Comparative Analysis of Candidates for Position as to Attitude, Level of Competency, and Goals.” She worked as the Chairman of the Secretarial Department at Farleigh Dickinson College for three years, and as the Director of Placement for one. At Farleigh, she established job clinics and the college placement bureau. She also received a citation for “Service Beyond the call of duty”. She was also a member of the evaluating committee for the Middle States Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges in 1949. She taught for four years at Berkeley School as head of the English Department, Director of Student Problems, and as a shorthand teacher. She had numerous years of experience as a shorthand teacher, private and executive secretary, and as a teacher at Bryant and Stratton Naval Training School. She published a number of monographs and articles, with titles such as “Placement as a Function of Guidance,” “What about Follow-up?” and co-wrote a filing manual for secretaries. She was a member numerous societies and organizations, such as Delta Pi Epsilon, the American Association of University Professors, the American Association of University Women, and National Business Teachers Associations. She applied to OSC because she wished to be able to finish her doctorate and “get away from the load I have now of 33 hours of teaching plus managing the placement bureau.” She was hired at $3600 salary for ten months’ service with yearly tenure. She resigned in 1952. In her resignation letter she highly praised her employer, Dr. Yerian, whom she considered to be the best employer she had ever had, and Miss Hay, who Reeves thought must be “more popular than any of the staff and that the service she renders is greater.” She also expressed pleased surprised at the fact that a “college as large as this” had “so many democratic principles” in effect. She left to accept a “most challenging and remunerative administration position” in the fashion field in New York. At her resignation, she was earning $4400 on a ten months’ basis.
Alma Frances Tapscott was an Assistant Professor of Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts in 1946. She was born in 1909 in Lima, Ohio. She attended Ohio Northern University, Bowling Green College, and Ohio State University, receiving her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics, with additional study in elementary education, from the latter in 1936. She received her Master of Arts from Teachers’ College, Columbia University in Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts. Before coming to OSC, she spent eleven years teaching high school and one year as a spectroscopist in private industry. She was hired at $2800 for a ten month term. She resigned in 1948, at which point she was making a salary of $3,360.
Loretta G. Fisher was a reference librarian at Oregon State College from 1930 to 1942 and from 1968 to 1972. Fisher was born in 1908, in Albany, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Willamette University in 1930, and her Bachelor of Science in Library Science from Columbia University in 1938. She came to Oregon State in 1930 and held various clerical positions until she received her degree in Library Science. That same year, she became a reference librarian with an annual salary of $1,400. She remained at Oregon State until 1942, when she resigned to work as an assistant state librarian. She returned as a reference librarian at Oregon State in 1968 with an annual salary of $7,737. Fisher also served as a member of the Convocations and Lectures Committee, where she helped with university policy regarding student services. She retired in 1972. She was granted the title “Instructor Emeritus” from Oregon State University before her retirement.
Anaita Jurgenson was a Russian professor at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1968. Jurgenson was born in 1895, in Tiflis Caucasus, Russia. She graduated from the French College Alciander’s Institute in Petrograd, Russia in 1915. Before coming to Oregon State, she was a Russian instructor at the Navy Language School at the University of Colorado. Jurgenson applied for a position at Oregon State after the Navy Language School closed. She was brought on as an assistant instructor for the Department of Modern Languages at an annual salary of $3,000. Jurgenson took a sabbatical leave in 1957 to travel and study abroad in Paris and London to attend lectures given on Russian language and culture. Throughout her time within the Department of Modern Languages, Jurgenson enjoyed showing Russian films to OSC students. Given the time during which she worked at the college, Jugenson did on occasion experience tensions on campus regarding Cold War hostilities between the United States and Russia. On one occasion in 1949, she cancelled a film showing due to the political atmosphere on campus. On another occasion, Jurgenson was to present at a lecture on Russian Culture, but the visas of the Russian scholars who were to visit were cancelled by the United States. Despite this, she spoke fondly of her time at Oregon State, and in turn her department showed gratitude that she chose to work there. Jurgenson retired in 1965, after nineteen years of service at Oregon State. That same year, she suffered from severe health complications that resulted in her hospitalization, but she recovered and came back to work part-time at Oregon State in 1966 with the rank of professor. She continued to work until 1968.