University of Massachusetts Amherst Records

The Massachusetts Agricultural College was established in 1863 under the original Morrill Land Grant act of 1862. Four faculty members and four wooden buildings awaited the first entering class of 56 students in 1867. The first graduate degrees were authorized in 1892. What was known as "Mass Aggie" became Massachusetts State College in 1931, and the University of Massachusetts in 1947.

After World War II, the University of Massachusetts in Amherst experienced rapid growth in its physical facilities, enrollment, and programs. A temporary campus opened at Fort Devens (1946-1949) to accommodate the influx of returning veterans. The University's second campus was opened in Boston in 1965, and expanded into the Harbor campus in 1974. A third campus, the University of Massachusetts Medical Center at Worcester, was founded in 1962, and enrolled its first class in 1970. The same year, the President's Office was moved from Amherst to separate offices in Boston, and the Office of Chancellor was established as the chief executive position at each campus.

In 1991, Governor William F. Weld signed legislation creating a new five campus University of Massachusetts with a single president and a board of trustees. This legislation consolidated five public university campuses (the three UMass campuses, the University of Lowell, and Southeastern Massachusetts University) into a single university system with an autonomous governing board. The Board of Higher Education is the governing body of the University system.

The University is one of the founding members of the original Four College Cooperation (1956) and of the Five College Cooperative program established in 1965, offering reciprocal student access among the University and Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges.

Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew incorporated the Board of Trustees for the Massachusetts Agricultural College on April 29, 1863. The first board of fourteen trustees was charged with the task of creating a new agricultural college. The following year, members of the Board were established as overseers for the college, and Charles L. Flint, secretary, became college secretary as well. The Board of Trustees (including student trustees), governs the University, and meets regularly to act on University-wide matters of policy, mission, finance, and campus maintenance. Governance responsibilities in some areas (e.g., tuition, academic program review and approval) are shared with the statewide Board of Higher Education. The Board of Trustees maintains a Chair and six standing committees: Executive, Administration and Finance, Academic and Student Affairs, Athletics, Audit, and External Affairs. The President and the Five College Chancellors administer board policy

On November 29, 1864, the Board of Trustees for the Massachusetts Agricultural College created the Office of the President and elected Henry Flagg French as the first president of the newly created land grant institution. Permanent, acting, and interim presidents served until 1969, when the Board of Trustees created a separate central administration for the University, which was reorganized into a tripartite institution.

When the President's office was relocated from the Amherst campus to separate offices in Boston in 1970, the Office of Chancellor was established as the chief executive position at each of the five campuses. The responsibilities of the President and of the central administrative staff are summarized in the Governance Document of the University which was adopted in 1973. The president acts as the principal academic and executive officer of the University, presents policy recommendations to the Board of Trustees, keeps current a master plan of the University, prepares the annual budget, allocates the appropriated budget, appoints members of the faculty to tenure with the concurrence of the Board of Trustees, coordinates the work of all campuses of the University and promotes the general welfare of the University as a whole.

The position of Chancellor, Amherst Campus, was created in 1970 when the office of the University President moved to Boston; the first person to serve as Chancellor was Oswald Tippo in 1970.

The Chancellor is the chief administrative officer of the campus and is responsible for carrying out policies and procedures as established by the Board of Trustees and the University President. The Chancellor also coordinates the major administrative units of the campus, each supervised by the Deputy Chancellor or Vice Chancellor. The Chancellor is responsible for campus strategic planning and, in particular, for proposing and reviewing activities that involve different administrative units, such as budget reallocations, enrollment management, facilities planning and some labor relations.

Externally, the Chancellor speaks for the campus to such audiences as trustees, state and federal legislators, alumni, state and local public officials, business and community leaders. In addition to the Deputy Chancellor and the Vice Chancellors, the Director of Athletics reports to the Chancellor, as does the Associate University Counsel, who advises the Chancellor and other members of the University community about legal issues.

Materials in the series Budget Documents (1908-2007) including news clippings (1885-2007) were first maintained in 1908 by Ralph J. Watts, the College's first full-time Secretary to the President. Robert Hawley, his successor, became the College's Treasurer in 1940. When the President's Office moved to Boston, the early budget files became part of the Chancellor's record. In 1969 the Office of Budgeting and Institutional Studies was created and it assumed budget responsibilities.

The early years of publicity for Massachusetts Agricultural College focused primarily on agriculture and home economics. During the Massachusetts State College period, new public relations programs were proposed in an attempt to broaden coverage of the entire college. Robert McCartney served as the first UMass News Editor (1948-1953) and as Director of Publications and News (1953-1956). In 1961, the entire central Public Relations staff of the University of Massachusetts consisted of a news and publications editor; however, the College of Agriculture had its own staff of publicity professionals (director, news, radio, television and publications editors).

In 1961, President Jown W. Lederle authorized the position of Assistant News and Publications Editor based on the assumption that there would be need for more publications and greater publicity as the University prepared for its centennial year in 1963. Over the next five years, the University's public relations program grew as the University expanded at a rate of approximately 1500 students per year. The two members of the News and Publications office divided their functions into news and publications. The staff in the agricultural communications area was incorporated into the University's public relations area with subsequent personnel shifts. All of these units reported informally to the Secretary of the University. Robert McCartney (who had taken a position as Director of University Relations) at the University of Maryland) returned to UMass in 1964 as Secretary of the University of Massachusetts and Director of University Relations.

In a major reorganization in 1969, Joseph Marcus was made Vice Chancellor, with repsonsibilities for Public Relations, Alumni, Special Programs, and Continuing Education. Marcus left the position after one year and the concept of a vice chancellor to manage the public relations area was abandoned. After Oswald Tippo became chancellor in 1970, he named Daniel Melley as Director of Public Affairs, with responsibility for news, publications, the Photo Center, and managerial responsibility for WFCR radio.

In the fall of 1973, the Public Affairs Office completed a total reorganization, which separated the editorial and design/production duties within publications. In 1983 the position of Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Development was created. This name changed in 1993 to Vice Chancellor for University Advancement to oversee public affairs, alumni relations and development.

This record group includes the collected records of many of the University offices and programs primarily concerned with academic affairs. Initially academic affairs was the responsibility of early presidents. In 1906, the Board of Trustess created the office of Dean of the College. As Dean of the entire college, the Dean was responsible for student attendance, scholarship standing, enforcement of faculty rules, and discipline.

In 1953 the office of Provost was created to provide leadership in all areas of academic activity. In 1970 the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost became the chief academic officer of the campus responsible for advising the Chancellor regarding the whole of the University's academic program.

The Division of Continuing Education was established in 1970 as the de facto academic outreach program for the University. Its goal was to improve access to the academic resources of the University for part-time students. Shortly after its inception, this included the development of a specialized admissions process approved by the Faculty Senate and an integrated counseling, advising, registration and records operation geared to the needs of part-time students.

The Division of Continuing Education continues to provide specialized services and programming for part-time students including Tutoring Enrichment Assistance Model for Public School Students (TEAMS) and Arts Extention, which acts as a catalyst to stimulate interaction between the fine arts resources of the University and the people in the Commonwealth.

Massachusetts Agricultural College housed its first library in a room in the first South College building. When this building burned and the collection was destroyed in 1885, the faculty, students, and alumni donated their own books and journals to re-establish a collection which was then moved into the newly constructed combined chapel and library. In 1883 an Alumni Library Committee was established to raise funds for the construction of a Stone Chapel, which was built between 1884 and 1885. Now called Old Chapel, it was the first campus building designed for use as a library. Main library facilities have been housed in Old Chapel, Goodell Library (1935), and the University Library (called the "tower library") (1973), which was named the W.E.B. Du Bois Library in 1996. Other library facilities on campus included libraries for the biological sciences, physical sciences, and the Music Library. The Integrated Science and Engineering Library has combined the services of the biological and physical sciences and is housed in the Lederle Graduate Research Center.

Henry Hill Goodell was the first official Librarian (1885-1899). He was succeeded by:

From 1966-1972 David Clay held the title Director of Libraries. Merle Boylan, Jr. held the title of University Librarian and Director from 1972-1973. The title Director of Libraries was established in 1973, and has been held by Richard Talbot (1973-1996), Margaret L. Crist (1997-2003), and Gerald Jay Schafer (2004-Summer 2016). In 2016, the title Dean of Libraries was established, and has been held by Simon Neame (Summer 2016-Summer 2021), Jennifer Friedman (July/Aug 2021 as Acting Dean), Sarah Hutton (August 2021-July 2022 as Interim Dean), and Nandita Mani (2022-2024).

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has offered graduate study since 1896, awarding more than 11,360 doctoral and 37,480 master's degrees. With a Graduate Faculty of 1,100 in 2006 the Amherst campus offers 50 programs leading to a doctorate and 68 programs toward a master's degree.

Business courses were first offered at the Massachusetts Agricultural College in the early 1900s. The 1905-1906 Catalogue of the Massachusetts Agricultural College offered general economic courses and by 1907-1908, agricultural economics courses were being taught by the Department of Rural Social Sciences. When the college restructured during the 1911-1912 academic year, the Department of Agricultural Economics was established under the Division of Rural Social Sciences. From 1912 until 1935, Dr. Alexander E. Cance served as head of the department. In 1935 courses in general economics and business-related subjects transferred to the newly organized Department of Economics in the Division of Social Sciences, with Dr. Cance appointed Head. Cance remained in the position until 1942 when he was replaced by Dr. Phillip E. Gamble. Between 1935 and 1947, the curriculum expanded with many new courses such as Money, Banking, and Credit; Business Law; Principles of Transportation; Economics of International Trade; and Labor Problems.

In 1947, the Board of Trustees established the School of Business Administration. From 1947 to 1952, the faculty and curricula of the School of Business Administration and the Department of Economics were closely integrated, and Dr. Gamble served jointly as Head of the Department of Economics and Acting Dean of the School.

As a result of the rapid growth in faculty, and the diversification of student majors and curriculum offerings in the immediate post World War II period, the School of Business Administration was reorganized in 1952 and Dr. Milo Kimball was appointed Dean. In 1954, the School conferred graduate degrees for the first time to three students who had successfully completed the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration. In February 1957, Dean Kimball resigned his administrative responsibilities and returned to full-time teaching. Provost Shannon McCune assumed the duties of Acting Dean pending the arrival of the newly appointed Dean, Dr. Himy B. Kirshen.

The School was accredited at the undergraduate level by the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business in May 1958, and in March 1959, the Board of Trustees authorized the establishment of four academic departments within the school: Accounting, General Business and Finance, Management, and Marketing. The initial administrative officers of these departments were, respectively, Professors John W. Anderson, James B. Budtke, John T. Colon, and Harold E. Hardy.

In April 1965, the Business Advisory Council, a group of executives from a wide variety of industrial and service firms, was established to consult with the School on the development of its curricula and its research and service programs. In July 1967, the School established the Center for Business and Economic Research to encourage and support applied research by faculty and students in all areas of management and administration. Dr. George Simmons was appointed Director of the center. In September 1967, a program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration was introduced. In 1983, the School of Business Administration changed its name to School of Management. In 1998, it was renamed the Eugene M. Isenberg School of Management.

In 1906 the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a law supporting the development of agricultural teaching in grades of schools in the Commonwealth. Then President, Kenyon L. Butterfield, a leader in the rural life movement, organized a separate Department of Agricultural Education at the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1907, which introduced teacher-training courses for preparation of teachers of agriculture. The first head of the department, Professor William R. Hart, identified the departments mission as "the historical and philosophical study of industrial education leading to a rational interpretation of the meaning of agriculture as a study in modern school life. It is, in short, the effort to interpret agriculture in terms of rural betterment rather than in terms of profit and loss, and the drudgery of making a living. The work of instruction will be partly within the college and partly without."

In 1912, the College's individual departments were organized under newly formed divisions and Agricultural Education became part of the Division of Rural Social Science. Specific authorization providing training of vocational agricultural teachers was passed in 1914, but no classes were organized prior to the acceptance of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917. During the 1918/1919 academic year, the college established one course in special methods of agricultural teaching for undergraduates, an apprentice teaching plan, and short courses for mature persons. The state agent for agricultural teacher training, Franklin E. Heald was located in a branch office in the agricultural building at the college. In September 1919, an additional member, Professor W. S. Welles, was appointed to the college teacher-training staff, with primary responsibility for the courses in agricultural education and with some itinerant teacher-training duties. The basic apprentice-teaching plan, which required a full term away from the campus for college credit, was put into effect in the winter of 1919.

On the recommendation of the Trustees' Faculty and Program of Study Committee, in 1932 the Board of Trustees changed the name of the Department of Agricultural Education to the Department of Education. In 1936, to more appropriately reflect the differences in majors offered, the Department of Education became the Department of Education and Psychology within the Division of Social Sciences. In 1938, the Division was renamed the Division of Liberal Arts. In 1947 the department of Education and Psychology was divided into separate departments and faculty members were housed in the former Liberal Arts Annex and later in Machmer Hall.

In 1948, University President Ralph Van Meter requested that the Department of Education prepare a program commensurate with the present and future needs of the citizens of Massachusetts. He also created a special faculty committee to analyze the advisability of creating a school of education that could respond to the drastic need for new teachers in Massachusetts in the post-war years. To meet this need, the University proposed expanding its teacher-training program. In 1956, the Department of Education was organized into a School of Education by President Jean Paul Mather. Dr. Albert W. Purvis served as the first Dean of the School of Education from 1956-1968.

The Education Building and Laboratory School opened in 1961. Although teacher training was the function of the School, the administration maintained that teacher education was a function of the entire University. To this end, cooperative programs were established with various schools and departments whereby these units provided the general education and subject content needed by the teacher trainees and also aided, in some cases, with the professional program.

The late 1960s and 1970s were expansive years for the School of Education. In 1967, with Provost Oswald Tippo and the University Trustees investing heavily in its development. The curriculum, departmental structure, and governance processes of the School were modified. Its faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students were organized into one of nearly three dozen centers (later clusters and concentrations), each focusing on one or a few of the aspects of managing and delivering educational content. The academic reforms achieved by the School of Education in the areas of experimentation, options, student responsibility, social action, and continuing innovation appeared to reflect the thoughts of many commissions involved in Higher Education at the time.

Between 1968 and 1971, fifty-five new tenured faculty were hired. By 1973, the School had ninety faculty members, including sixteen minority faculty and twelve women, and was ranked thirteenth in the nation for its research contribution to the American Educational Research Association. In addition, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education recognized the School's offering twenty-two alternate teacher preparation programs.

In 1976 the Chancellor appointed a special Committee on the Future School of Education, which made a number of recommendations including, continuing "to increase the size and scope of its program of in-service education, primarily to meet the needs of school systems in the Commonwealth, but, also to provide professional improvement for people in other institutions and agencies." Major change came in the 1976-1977 academic year with the establishment of a new mission. The central mission of the School became the training and development of professional leaders in the field of teaching and in non-teaching areas of research, administration, and the human services. The need for the School to foster partnerships between the University and the Public School system as well as with other urban and rural agencies statewide was also addressed. As a result, between 1977 and 1993, the school was organized into divisions and concentrations. The major divisions were Human Services and Applied Behavioral Sciences; Educational Policy, Research and Administration; and Instructional Leadership and concentrations such as Alternative Schools Programs and the Horace Mann Bond Center.

The late 1980s saw a dramatic decrease in state support for the University, and the School of Education suffered cuts. In 1993, the School reorganized into three major departments: Education Policy, Research, and Administration; Student Development and Pupil Personnel Services; and Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies.

Beginning in 1867, Massachusetts Agricultural College offered engineering courses in surveying and the construction of roads and bridges - practical skills that might frequently be used as part of any farming routine. These courses, offered by the Mathematics Department, were the only classes offerend in engineering for almost fifty years.

In 1914, the department of Agricultural Engineering was established within the Division of Agriculture. Christian I. Gunness taught courses in farm structures and farm machinery. In 1938, the Department of Mathematics and Civil Engineering combined with the Department of Agricultural Engineering to form General Engineering. Professor Gunness and the other Agricultural Engineering faculty offered six specialized courses; George A. Marston and John D. Swenson brought to the new department a program of eighteen courses in general engineering that had been developed in the Department of Mathematics.

In the fall of 1945, the Division of Engineering was created. In 1946, the Division split into two departments, Agricultural Engineering and Civil Engineering. The School of Engineering was established one year later. The school originally had four departments: Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, and Agricultural, with each offering a four-year undergraduate curriculum leading to a bachelor of science degree. In addition, the Mechanical Engineering Department administered an optional curriculum in Industrial Engineering.

In 1952, the Department of Chemical Engineering was added to the School of Engineering. The roots of this new department lay in the Department of Chemistry in the School of Science. The School of Engineering became the College of Engineering in 1985. The College of Engineering majors are organized in four academic departments: Chemical Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Electical and Computer Engineering; and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Massachusetts Agricultural College (MAC) was founded in 1863 when the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 provided funds for the establishment of colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts throughout the nation. The curriculum changed throughout the early years of MAC although practical courses in agriculture and horticulture remained at its core. Through time, the curriculum broadened as a result of the changing economy, agricultural techniques and perceptions by college and state administrators about what constituted "rural development."

In 1907, the Division of Agriculture and the Division of Horticulture were established. Frank A. Waugh, Professor of Horticulture, came to the College in 1902, and in 1903 established an undergraduate curriculum in landscape gardening, one of only two in the country at the time. By 1909 fifty-two courses in agriculture and horticulture were offered, organized into four sections: Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, and Farm Administration. The Horticulture Division included the Departments of Landscape Gardening, Floriculture, Market Gardening, Pomology and Forestry.

In 1915, a graduate curriculum in Landscape Gardening was developed within the Division of Horticulture, which, after three semesters, would lead to a masters degree. By 1918, the graduate program was called Landscape Architecture (it was not until 1930 that the undergraduate program in Landscape Gardening was re-named Landscape Architecture, paralleling the change in name of the Massachusetts Agricultural College to the Massachusetts State College in 1931).

In response to the growing need for trained farmers during the World War I period, a two-year professional and technical school was founded in 1918 as the "Two-Year Course". The divisions of Horticulture and Agriculture were re-organized into separate schools in 1945. Five years later, under new leadership, the two schools merged into the School of Agriculture and Horticulture, which in 1955 was re-named the College of Agriculture. The College or Agriculture was organized into the College of Food and Natural Resources in 1972. In 1975, the Division of Home Economics transferred to the College under the Department of Food Science.

In 1984, recognizing the role that the University of Massachusetts plays in regional economic development, the State Legislature established a Center for Rural Massachusetts at the Amherst campus, an information clearinghouse that assists town and state officials in policy development around such issues as population growth and urban sprawl, subdivision zoning, rising residential price fluctuations, and wise use of agricultural lands for development.

In 1991 the Division of Home Economics became the Department of Consumer Studies reflecting the multi-disciplinary focus of the department. Two majors were offered at this time, Apparel Marketing and Family, and Consumer Sciences. In 2000 the Apparel Marketing program was eliminated. Subsequently, due to budget concerns and a lack of critical mass of faculty to meet its curriculum obligations, the Department of Consumer Studies was eliminated in December, 2001. The Family and Consumer Sciences program, within Consumer Studies, was thereafter transferred to the Department of Economic Resources. In 2003 the College of Food and Natural Resources was reorganized and changed its name to the College of Natural Resources and the Environment.

In 1912, the Massachusetts Agricultural College experienced a fatal epidemic of scarlet fever. In response to this disaster, the Massachusetts Legislature appropriated sufficient funds to construct an infirmary. When the infirmary opened in 1915, a resident nurse was placed in charge of the new facility; and in 1930, Dr. Ernest J. Radcliffe served as college physician. In the 1940s Curry Hicks, while serving as director of the Athletic Program, was also made responsible for student health services and Dr. Radcliffe provided the leadership for a newly created department of Student Health.

In 1939, MAC, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, approved a cooperative program in public health instruction. To support the program, a new Department of Bacteriology was established in 1940. The Board of Trustees approved additional public health courses in 1941 and voted to continue public health courses in 1944. The public health curricula included courses in General Bacteriology and Community Sanitation within the Department of Bacteriology and Public Health. In 1947 the program of undergraduate instruction was expanded to include a Master of Science degree, and in 1948, it graduated its first students.

A graduate program was established in environmental health in 1948. In 1951, the Trustees approved the establishment of a nursing program curriculum and in 1953, Mary A. Maher was appointed Director of a newly formed Division of Nursing. The first class was organized in September 1954. Agreements were reached with a nearby Springfield Hospital for the use of clinical facilities during the following summer session. In 1960, on recommendation of the President and vote of the Trustees, the Division was officially redesignated the School of Nursing.

In 1961, public health courses were moved from the Bacteriology Department, which then became the Department Of Microbiology. Robert W. Gage was appointed as head of the newly-created Department of Public Health while also serving as director of University Health Services. At that time the unit comprised two faculty members, experts in both health department administration and environmental sanitation. The academic offerings consisted of a master's level program and courses for undergraduate students. The primary purpose of the program was to educate graduates in conventional hygiene and sanitation and prepare them for management of local health departments. By 1964, the department had grown, and Dr. Howard A. Peters was given a joint appointment as director of Environmental Health in the University Health Services and as assistant professor in the Department of Public Health. The appointment of William A. Darity in 1965 introduced community health education as an essential component of the academic public health program.

In 1973, the School of Health Sciences was formed, comprised of the Division of Nursing and a separate Division of Public Health. The Department of Communication Disorders was added in 1975. The School of Health Sciences split into the School of Public Health and the School of Nursing in 1989. In 1993, the School of Health Sciences was renamed the School of Public Health and Health Sciences. In addition to educating graduate and undergraduate students and providing continuing education for health professionals, the school emphasized pursuit of basic and applied research as well as outreach through technical assistance and consultation to health and other human service agencies, to communities in the private sector, and to innovative demonstration programs. The School also began strong participation in scientific, professional, and policy-making bodies at the state, national, and international levels. The Center for Research and Education of Women's Health (CREWH) was established in 1997 to provide for the exchange of knowledge from current research; education on disease prevention, exercise and fitness; and nutrition information for women in the University and local community.

As early as 1867, the Massachusetts Agricultural College (MAC) offered physical education in conjunction with the Department of Military Science and Tactics under the instruction of an army officer. In addition, beginning in 1868, athletics characterized as "physical activities" were available to the students. One of the first recorded athletic events a local agricultural fair, at which Amherst College defeated MAC's first team, the Wilder Baseball Association (Mass Aggies) by a score of 57-38. By 1871, a small group of students had banded together under the direction of Joshua Ward, the College's first official coach, to expand this new, on-campus activity concept to include the Boating Organization and College Navy. However, the success of this newly instituted Intercollegiate Program was short-lived, as by 1875 low student moral, a lack of class spirit, and virtually non-existent funds forced the handful of interested students into a new idea, that of intra-class play or, as it is known today, Intramurals. As in the past sporadic student efforts and an unapproving faculty continued to hamper the general acceptance of any organized activity, but despite these obstacles, derivatives of what we know today as fencing, boxing, skiing, riflery, canoeing, bicycling, tennis, and football all made their modest emergence and meager impact on the quality of campus life.

By the turn of the century, the student body at MAC had increased to 668, and cries were being heard for coaching, facilities, equipment, and some form of athletic organization. Faculty opposition was lessening and concentrated efforts were under way by the newly created MAC Alumni Athletic Association to drain and grade the College's first official playing field. The Drill Hall was converted to accommodate indoor activity, athletic training tables for pre-game meals were initiated, and the first "letter sweater' was given.

By 1904, the athletic program was introduced to the Commonwealth when the Boston Globe recognized and hailed an Aggie athletic team, giving the program new life and inspiring the following year's baseball and football teams on to winning seasons. Unfortunately, however, student efforts to solidify this newly initiated interest and growth was soon to be again undermined, as President Kenyon Butterfield took a strong stand against "overemphasis" and any alumni intervention. His fear of overemphasis led to very little emphasis, and his conception that alumni involvement would lead to corruption left the hapless program floundering and directionless.

It wasn't until 1909 that a formal department of Physical Education and Hygiene was established under the leadership of Dr. Percy L. Reynolds. The physical education program on the Massachusetts campus was largely the result of the efforts of three people: Curry S. Hicks (who would eventually guide the Department of Athletics and Physical Education over the next 38 years), Mrs. Adeline Hicks, and Harold M. Gore. Hicks, who had taken over the department from Percy L. Reynolds in 1911, had built a program which stressed the promotion of physical fitness through exercise in group play. Instruction had aimed at the development of skills which would be employed not only during the days of college but also in the period of adulthood to follow.

After creating his policies of "no under-the-table antics" for coaches, alumni contributions with "no strings attached", and Program growth by means of student fees, Curry Hicks developed the Joint Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics to employ his new commandments. By 1918, the first admission had been charged for a contest, $375,000 was raised for a new field house, and the concept of a full-time year-round teacher/coach was introduced.

According to a 1933 report by Curry S. Hicks, the activities of Physical Education Department were organized under five major branches; Health Program, Athletics, Required Class Exercise, Teacher-Training, and the Women's Department. The Department of Physical Education and Hygiene became the Division of Physical Education in 1935. Expansion of the physical education program started slowly in the 1940s and moved ahead rapidly after World War II. In 1940 an administrative reorganization created four departments where only one had existed before. Harold M. Gore was made head of the Department of Physical Education for Men, and Ruth Totman, head of the department for women. Dr. Ernest J. Radcliffe, who had been the college physician since 1930, headed the new Department of Student Health, and Curry Hicks, division head, was also director of Athletics.

The Athletic Program's lack of any type of thrust, continued to contradict the new trends appearing across the United States exemplifying intercollegiate expansion and growth. While other land grant colleges improved, Athletics at MAC were stagnant. In 1954 Sidney W. Kauffman was brought in as head of the program for men. The Board of Trustees approved new curriculum and a major in Physical Education for men in 1954. These changes modernized the program of teacher training and attracted a larger number of students. It wasn't until 1958, however, that the Trustees approved a major in Physical Education for women, and a women's physical education building was completed in 1959. Under the leadership of Ruth Totman a new major curriculum was introduced for women in physical education.

At its annual meeting in Boston, on February 23, 1960, the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts, redesignated the Division of Physical Education as the School of Physical Education. In 1993 the Board of Trustees eliminated the School of Physical Education and placed the responsibility for General Physical Education under Special Programs. Today the Director of Athletics reports directly to the Chancellor.