Portage County Historical Society

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

Phillip H. Falk
1938 - 1939
1st Semester

Dr. Phillip H. Falk, 41, was chosen to succeed President Hyer.

Dr. Falk was known to have turned down more lucrative offers than the Central State president’s salary of $5,000; so when he resigned after just one semester at Stevens Point it would seem that salary was not the deciding factor.

He said he accepted the presidency because of the greater opportunities he felt were afforded in the Stevens Point position, and he left because he felt there was even greater opportunity for educational service at Madison where he accepted a post he had once held temporarily, the superintendency of the public school system.

All of Dr. Falk’s degrees were earned at the University of Wisconsin.

His abrupt departure did bring criticism on the economics of the Teachers College situation.

Thoughtful educational leaders expressed concern that standards would be lowered if the college did not receive adequate support.

In a bulletin to the faculty in January, 1939, before he left for Madison, President Falk wrote:

"The poor record of (our) transfers at the University of Wisconsin is not prima fade evidence of low scholastic standards at Central State or that the faculty has been remiss in its services to students. The record does, however, cast scholastic suspicion over the college in the eyes of many people, and presents a situation of which the faculty should be fully cognizant."

The study President Falk made of the quality of Central State’s educational program apparently discouraged him, but this study was not done in vain. A later president, William C. Hansen, recognized its value and used it as a guideline when he tackled the task of upgrading the college.

So, though he stayed such a short time, Dr. Falk perhaps had greater effect on the college than he or anyone else suspected at the time.

In 1938 the Home Economics department ran into serious trouble. The Regents decreed that no new students could enroll as majors and that the course be closed in February of 1939.

The Central State staff managed to keep its department in existence and the major did get reinstated later.