Babson College Accreditation

In November Babson College was accredited by EQUIS. At this writing only three colleges in the United States have been accredited by them and only Babson earned a five year accreditation. The complete list of EQUIS accredited colleges can be found here. (Thanks to Dean Ansari for posting the details and link to the list.)

Babson College is accredited by two other organizations: The New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Babson Institute's undergraduate program was first accredited by the NEASC in 1950. The rules of the AACSB (known then as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business) required that accredited schools be independant schools attached to universities. When the rule was changed to allow free-standing colleges of business to be considered for accreditation Babson's programs were accrediated.

AACSB first acccredited Babson College's undergraduate program in 1980 and the graduate program in 1981.

R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar
Babson College Archives

"Somethin's Cookin' at Babson" recipe collection (1984)

Last year at about this time I acquired a copy of Somethin's Cookin' at Babson from President William Dill. This collection of Babson College staff favorite recipes was printed in 1984 as a fund-raiser for the Babson College Women's Club with the proceeds going for scholarships. With a week before Thanksgiving 2008 I re-post it for the use and amusement of the community.


R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar
Babson College Archives

What Roger W. Babson Said September 5, 1929

In these uncertain economic times there has been much quoting and noting of the comments made by Roger W. Babson at his 25th Anniversary Conference on September 5, 1929. The following excerpt is from the September 16, 1929 issue of Babson's Reports and it is said to be verbatim:

"Sooner or later a crash is coming which will take the leading stocks and cause a decline of from 60 to 80 points in the Dow-Jones Barometer. Fair weather cannot always continue. The Federal Reserve System has put the banks in a strong position; but it has not changed human nature. More people are borrowing and speculating today than ever in our history. Sooner or later there is a crash coming and it may be a terrific one. Wise are those investors who now get out of debt and reef their sails. This doesn't mean selling all that you have, but it does mean paying up your loans and avoiding margin speculation." [emphasis in the original]

PBS did a film on the Crash of 1929 [see transcript] which has a useful Timeline of Wall Street activities.

R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar
Babson College Archives

The Presidental Election...1940

In early November of 2008 we have just ended a long campaign for President of the United States. Here at Babson we have an association with campaigns for the White House. In 1940, our founder, Roger W. Babson, ran for President of the United States as a candidate of the New Prohibition Party. The party was much more broadly reform-oriented than its name might suggest. Mr. Babson and his running mate Edgar V. Moorman ran a vigourous campaign but received only 57,903 of the 49,903,113 votes cast. Mr. Babson writes of the experience in the 1949 edition of his autobiography Actions and Reactions (p. 299-316) and in a book Our Campaign for the Presidency which is available in the Babson Collection (E811.B2 1941) in the Horn Library.

R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar
Babson College Archives

The Babson Collection

The Babson Collection is a special section of the Horn Library where you can find Babson-specific materials. It is currently located on shelves outside of study room 201 on the second floor of the Horn Library. The newest addition to the collection is the Babson Alumni Magazine (which since spring 2005 has been known as the Babson Magazine.) There are bound volumes from 1929 through 1985. These bound volumes will not circulate. Back issues will be bound through 2007 and we hope to continue binding issues one year at a time. When these issues are bound and available I will announce it in this space. The earliest issues of the Alumni Bulletin (1924-1929) have been scanned and are available in PDF. The most recent issues can still be found in the Jamie Horner Lounge.

The Babson Collection includes our yearbook The Babsonian. Babson has had a yearbook from 1921. One can check out individual volumes or view them on line via the Babson Archives Timeline. I have completed scans from 1921—1958 (2004 & 2005 as well) and hope to complete the digital copies by the end of the academic year.

The principal contents of the Babson Collection are the books published by Roger W. Babson, the founder of Babson College. These books can be checked out. "Actions and Reactions" is the autobiography of Roger W. Babson and is available on reserve as well. I have scanned a copy of the 1949 revised edition of this autobiography and made it available via the Archives Website. The page includes other items which might be of interest.

There is one last book which, while not part of the Babson Collection, might be of interest to the Babson Community. Babson History Professor John P. Mulkern wrote "Continuity and Change: Babson College, 1919—1994" (LD284.B22 M85 1995) for the 75^th Anniversary of the College. It is available on reserve and is available digitally as a PDF on the Archives Website.

R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar

Babson College Archives

60 Years Ago at Babson Institute

Sixty years ago the student newspaper at Babson Institute was called the "Babson Beaver." As it happens this year has the most complete run of newspapers of any year before the Institute became College. In those days there were three terms per academic year and the year started later (mid-September) and end later (early June). I am adding a new issue each Monday and they can be found at the Babson College Archives News. If you are interested in getting the updates as they come out there is a syndication feed avaialble, too.


R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar
Babson College Archives

The Walter H. Carpenter Prize for Exceptional Contributions to Babson College

In 1981 Babson established the Walter H. Carpenter Prize for Exceptional Contributions to Babson College. The prize is an annual award presented to an employee of the College who personifies those qualities which were so characteristic of Walter: a commitment to high standards in professional and personal life; outstanding service to the College over a period of years; and sensitivity and concern for students and colleagues.

Winners:

1982 Frances Dalton

1983 Clinton A . Petersen

1984 Edward H. Sullivan

1985 Norman A. Govoni

1986 Mary C. Keyes

1987 Willian C. Wrenn

1988 Joan Koehler

1989 John A. Saber

1989 Evelyn A. McIntosh

1990 Henry N. Deneault

1991 James J. Tuohy

1992 William L. Casey, Jr.

1993 Susan A. Roskey

1994 Diane Coryell

1994 Robert J. Eng

1995 Annette Robinson

1996 Michael L. Fetters

1997 Mary Rose

1997 Richard Bishop

1998 Jean Collins

1999 Gordon Prichett

2000 Jerry Kanter

2001 Rick Echlov

2002 Frances Nilsson

2003 William Lawler

2004 William Bygrave

2005 Melissa Shaak

2006 No Award

2007 Kathleen Kelly

2008 Allan Cohen

R. C. Rybnikar

Less Well Known Women of Babson College

Less Well Known Women of Babson College

Babson Institute was founded to train men in business. While the earliest instructors were usually colleagues of Mr. Babson, men he knew from his own business experience, not everyone associated with the Institute were men. And while the original intent was to train men for executive roles there were exceptions well before Babson became co-ed. In the following post I hope to acquaint readers with several women who may be unknown to you.

Eleanor Hayward

From its founding in 1919 until 1937 Ms. Hayward held many simultaneous positions at the Institute. Her primary title was as Registrar where she was responsible for the day-to-day academic affairs of Babson Institute. She sat on most campus committees from the academic to the social. She always co-produced Commencement and all of the activities around it. Before the building of the Babson Institute Library (the current Tomasso Hall) she was also the first Institute librarian (for the library housed in a wing of Coleman Hall.) She built the collection and reviewed new acquisitions for the alumni bulletin. If one needed permission to do almost anything on campus, her signature seems to have been the required one. She had more formal education then all but a few of the male faculty and staff (BS, MS, and MBA.) After 18 years at the Institute she left to join the WPA. Unfortunately where she came from and where she ended up are unknown to me. But this “jack-of-all” trades had an impact on the early development of this place. In the absence of documents I have spoken with members of the pre-WWII classes and every man who knew her has stated that she was the person who made sure that things got done.

Teresa Gubellini

I don't know when Ms. Gubellini started at Babson. While her obituary says that she started in 1946 it appears that she may have been one of the workers hired to complete the Great Relief Map formerly housed in Coleman Hall. The map was declared finished on December 30, 1940. The Institute was closed to civilians during WWII and the windows to Coleman Hall painted black while the campus was given over to the U. S. Navy Supply School. When the Institute reopened after the war Teresa was hired (at $0.75 per hour) to give talks and tours of the Map.

Coleman Hall was built to house this map which had a catwalk above which allowed visitors to view the continental US from approximately 700 miles. In 1955 the Babson World Globe was built adjacent to Coleman Hall and these combined exhibits became a destination for thousands of “Baby Boomers” on school trips. Teresa retired from Babson College in 1978 and died shortly thereafter. What makes her special to me is the wonder that because of all of these school groups over the years there must be many, many men and women for whom the name Babson brings to mind an enthusiastic, short, dark haired woman whose talks had even the most recalcitrant children “eating out of her hand.”

BSO “Girls” and others

While it is true that before the 1960s women were not usually welcomed as students at Babson Institute, that doesn’t mean that no woman was allowed to be a student there. In the years before Mrs. Babson founded Webber College for women in Florida, there were several women who attended the Institute in a variety of forms.

Dorothy Boal Brierly 1923

In the 1922-1923 academic year there were three women in attendance. One was Dorothy Boal (Brierley) who had a BA from the Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University.) She completed the years work after paying full price even though she was told that while she could attend but she would not receive the certificate for her work. After leaving the Institute she ran a hotel a few miles from the Babson's winter home. Without explanation she was awarded a certificate in 1932.

Edith Babson Webber Mustard 1923

With the understanding that she stood to inherit a small fortune, Roger and Grace's daughter Edith was given a place in the class of 1923. I understand (but cannot document it) that Edith wanted to study geology at Boston University. In a way not too different from that of many of her male classmates her parents decided that she needed to learn about money and its protection. As if being one of the few female students wasn't enough being the founder's daughter must have had complications of its own. She received her certificate with her class in 1923. Edith married Winslow Webber (Babson 1922) and was involved with the running of Webber College in Florida, among other things. The Archives has an endowment which is a gift from her and her children.

Selma Eversole Henley 1923

In its earliest days the Babson Institute and Babson Statistical Organization were connected at many levels in many ways. Employees of Mr. Babson's business were occasionally allowed to take a term's worth (3 months) of work at the Institute. Several of the early female students were BSO students. Some BSO students had to pay for their coursework while others received scholarships. The third student of the 1922-23 academic year was a woman from Illinois named Selma Eversole. She appears to have been one of the scholarship students. Selma had a Bachelors degree from the University of Illinois (and was a junior Phi Beta Kappa) and a Masters from Simmons College in Boston. She worked at Prescott Street headquarters for about a year before returning to Illinois. In an amazing example of serendipity I have been carrying on a correspondence with her daughter Dr. Mary Henley Rubio, University Professor Emeritus, Department of English and Theatre Studies, University of Guelph.

Mary Ives Dole 1924

Mary Ives was a BSO student who was from Delphi, Indiana. She seems to have gone to work for the BSO after graduating from Wellesley College. I don't know how long she she worked for the Babson Statistical Organization but she remained in the area working for some time at the Katherine Gibbs School in Boston.

Charlotte Reed Marbut 1924

Ms. Reed was from Denver and graduated from Mount Holyoke College before going to work for the BSO. She was one of the BSO staff who paid for her three months at the Institute ($700 tuition.) She returned to Denver and then moved to Montana where her address was a ranch. She and Ms. Ives get paired together in my mind because their pictures are featured in the 1924 Babsonian. It seems that they were not here together.

Harriet Ellison Rogers 1927

Harriet Ellison was a personal friend of Mr. Babson who asked her to take a class at the Institute. She was from Newton and stayed in the area participating in many civic organizations. In her later years she and her husband moved into the North Hill extended care facility which is on land owned by Babson College. She appears to be the last woman to take courses at Babson Institute until the part-time MBA began in 1961. Babson Institute became co-ed in 1968.

In the earliest years of Babson Institute evaluations included a letter grade and a brief written description of the student's work. The women in this group, for the most part, had written evaluations which were across the board better than their male classmates. Each must have had a story about their time here—and afterwards. It is worth noting that even if the Institute didn't offer them all certificates (and most had college degrees when they arrived) their classmates seem to have considered them classmates. This may not be the place to wonder “What if?” but what if...

Rip
Babson College Archives

Dean of Faculty

Babson College is currently searching for a new Dean of Faculty to replace Professor Fritz Fleischmann who will be stepping down this summer after five years as Dean.

The position of Dean of Faculty was resurrected in 2002 when the position of Provost was created by dividing of the responsibilities of the position of Vice President of Academic Affairs.

In the earliest days of Babson Institute the President was also the Chairman of the Faculty. After 1935 the position of “Dean” was created, one which seems to be responsible for both students and faculty. When the Institute reopened in 1946 until 1953/4 John K. Horner held the title of Dean of Faculty as well as chairing the Finance Division. The Dean of Faculty from 1954 until 1958 was John D. Montgomery who also chaired the Department of Government and Law. After Montgomery left the Institute, Henry A. Kriebel was first Acting Dean and then was Dean of Faculty while also chairing the Accounting Division. He held these positions until being named President of the Institute in 1961. Wallace P. Mors chaired the Finance Division while Dean of Faculty from 1961—1963. In 1963 Walter Carpenter became Dean of Faculty, a position he held until the 1969 reorganization which created the Vice President of Academic Affairs a position he held until illness side-lined him in 1979. Following VPs of Academic Affairs included: Melvyn R. Copen (recruited from off-campus) 1980—1987; Gordon Prichett (Math/Science) 1987—1992; Allan Cohen (Management) 1992-1997; and Michael Fetters (Accounting) 1997—2002.

The position of Provost began in 2002 and was first held by Professor Fetters carrying on from his role as the VP of Academic Affairs. In 2006 Patti Greene (Entrepreneurship) was promoted into the position after being Dean of Undergraduate Programs.

R. C. Rybnikar
Babson College Archives

Grace K. Babson Collection of the Works of Sir Isaac Newton

Greetings,
Sorry to be so far behind in my posting.
During the time that the GKB Collection was at the Burndy Library several of its books and manuscripts were scanned to PDF. Since the library closed and the Collection has been loaned to the Huntington Library I have become the holder of these scans. It has taken more time than I expected to make them available from a Babson server but they are up. They are hosted by the Archives website and can be found from this link. Aside from adding various metadata to the PDFs I also took the opportunity to scan the original printed catalog.
One of a great features for me is that this new capability will allow me to continue scanning Babsonians from 1921 through 1960 and I'll be able to share them on the Archives website. Check back there for updates.

Rip