Kathryn Veneta Haskin Smith was a part-time instructor in education for a year in 1951, and rejoined the faculty as Director of the Teacher Placement Service in 1955, where she stayed until 1969. She was born in 1904. She studied at Central State College, Humbolt State College, Southern Oregon College, and the University of Oregon, graduating from the latter in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science in Social Science and Education. She earned her Master of Education from OSC in 1952, and worked as a part-time instructor in education during that time. She was hired at $2000 for a ten month term in 1951. After she graduated, she worked as an instructor and assistant professor at Southern Oregon College and General Extension Division. In 1955, she rejoined the faculty as an Assistant Professor and Director of Teacher Placement for $5400 per year. In 1965, she took the rank of Associate Professor. She took sabbatical leave from September 1964 to January of 1965 to travel, research, and study. She took full salary for this leave, as she had been in the state system of higher education for thirteen years and had never had a sabbatical leave before. Her report of her sabbatical leave was found excellent enough that it was circulated among other members of the faculty by President James H. Jensen. She retired in 1969, upon which she was awarded Emeritus status. She was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, treasurer of Delta Kappa Gamma, and had been President of the Ashland Teachers Association. She served as President of the Soroptimist International Group for a year, and was on the board of Directors for another three. She was a Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, and was a member of the Republican State Committee.
Joane Sophia Wohlgenaut was an instructor in home economics education from 1956 to 1962. She was born in 1925 in Miles City, Montana. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Montana State College in 1948 in home economics, with additional study in biology. She then earned her Master of Education in Home Economics Education from Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1956. Before coming to OSC, she worked as a homemaking teacher throughout Montana, and was a Supervising Teacher for the Home Economics Department of Montana State College at Helena Senior High School. She was chairman of an evaluation committee to evaluate the Montana Home Economics Curriculum Guide, and was an advisor for the pacific region of the National Executive Council of Future Homemakers. She was also Supervising Teacher on the Program Planning Committee for the Pacific Region. She attended several conferences, including the Pacific Regional Home Economics Education Conference in 1953 and 1954, and the National Future Homemakers Conference, representing the State Advisor in 1953. At OSC, Wohlgenaut was hired for $4,500 for a ten month term, coming recommended by Dr. Dubois and by the State Board. She became an assistant professor in 1961. In 1962 she resigned, at a salary of $6,900, to accept a position in the Home Economics Education Department at Washington State University. She was a member, Chairman, and Councilor of the Montana chapter of the American Home Economics Association,; Vice President representing Home Economics with the American Vocational Association; and was a member of the National Education Association. She was also a member of the American Association of University Women and the Business and Professional Women’s Club.
Margaret Lucille Lawrence was an Assistant Professor in English. She was born in 1912 in Oelwein, Iowa. She was married to Gilbert N. Lawrence, and they had at least one son, named Richard, born in May, 1950. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Latin, with additional study in Library Science, from Clark College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1933, which she attended on scholarship and graduated maxima cum laude. She went on to attend graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, the University of California at Berkeley, and Florida State College for Women, from 1937-1943, working towards a Master of Arts in English and Latin. Her thesis for her master’s degree was titled “Limited Extent of the Influence of Plautus on the Comedy of Ben Jonson: A Study in J’s Independence.” She was hired as an Instructor in English in 1945, at a salary of $2,270. In the next year, she was promoted to Assistant Professor, and her salary was raised to $7,225. Before coming to OSC, she was an Instructor in English at Florida State College for Women, in Tallahassee, for two years, until her husband was stationed in Corvallis. She was also an high school instructor of Latin and English in Iowa for about seven years, teaching at Toledo Public High School and Dallas Public High School. She was part of the American Association of University Women, where she was the secretary elect from 1945-46. In 1970, she was named the first director of OSC’s new Writing Clinic, at the time housed in the English department, where she was tasked with teaching students grammatical proficiency. She created an “English Diagnostic Test” which was administered to Writing 121 students, which she used to identify struggling students and encourage them to visit the Writing Clinic. She was on numerous university and departmental committees, including the Writing Clinic Committee, of which she was chairman. She was a performer and director in Little Theater productions in both Corvallis and Albany, and was an active member of the Corvallis Women’s Civic Chorus. After working at OSC for 29 years, she retired in 1974, at a salary of $14,278, and was awarded the title of “Emeritus” upon retirement.