Background

Lotus Delta Coffman was born on January 7, 1875 in Salem, Indiana, United States. His father died young, leaving him to assist his mother with the chores.

Education

Upon completion of high school in Salem he taught in a country school, then attended the state normal school at Terre Haute, Indiana, from which he was graduated in 1896. After a year as a teacher, he returned to his home village as principal and later superintendent of schools. Continuing his studies through correspondence, by commuting once a week to Indiana University, and by taking courses for seven successive summers, he eventually received his bachelor's degree from the university in 1905. This was followed by a master's degree in 1910. A year later he was awarded a Ph. D. in education by Columbia University.

Career

For several years (1907-09, 1911 - 12) Coffman was director of teacher training at the Illinois State College at Charleston, where he formed a warm and lasting friendship with President L. C. Lord. This friendship made him reluctant to leave, but in 1912 he was persuaded to become a professor of education at the University of Illinois. Within a short time President George E. Vincent of the University of Minnesota invited him to come to that institution. After twice refusing, Coffman in 1915 accepted the deanship of Minnesota's college of education, an offer that especially attracted him because he felt strongly that only through a separate professional college could education achieve the status it deserved. In 1920 he became president of the University of Minnesota, a position he held until his death eighteen years later. Coffman's accomplishments at the University of Minnesota made him an outstanding state university president. Coffman's administrative abilities brought him many assignments outside the university. He conducted educational surveys in a number of states and for several universities. He served as secretary of the board of trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and as a trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He was several times chairman of the American Council on Education, and he was president of the National Society of College Teachers of Education (1917 - 18), the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (1921 - 22), and the National Association of State Universities (1930), among other educational organizations. His writings include his doctoral dissertation, The Social Composition of the Teaching Population (1911), and The State University: Its Work and Problems (1934). As an administrator Coffman regarded no tradition as sacred, no practice as final. He believed that "there should be ferment in every university--a ferment arising from an inner urge to learn, to interpret, to discover new knowledge. " He held strong convictions and was forthright in stating them; his honesty was respected even by his foes. But though frank, he was friendly, patient, and unassuming. Coffman died in Minneapolis of coronary thrombosis. He was buried in Sunset Memorial Park, Minneapolis.

Achievements

• He established a university college for gifted students, a two-year general college for students who were not likely to complete four years of work, a "Center for Continuation Study" to which graduates in various professions could return for short courses, one of the country's first institutes of child welfare, and an institute of technology (formed by merging the college of engineering and architecture, the school of chemistry, and the school of mines and metallurgy). He created a fine arts department and an art gallery; he erected a music building and the Northrup Auditorium, which brought the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra to the campus for concerts; he added a school of journalism and graduate instruction in business; and he expanded greatly the medical school and its hospitals. In physical plant and endowment he constructed over forty buildings, improved many others, and attracted gifts totaling over $12, 000, 000--an unusually high figure for a state university at that time.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Illinois School Survey: A Cooperative Investigation of School Conditions and School Efficiency, Initiated and Conducted by the Teachers of Illinois in ... of All the Children of All the People

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The social composition of the teaching population, by Lotus Delta Coffman ..

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • How to teach arithmetic; a manual for teachers and a text-book for normal schools

    (How to teach arithmetic; a manual for teachers and a text...)

  • Teacher training department in Minnesota high schools, by Lotus D. Coffman

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • The Essentials of Good Teaching - Primary Source Edition

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • North central high school

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  An active sportsman, he enjoyed hunting and fishing, and he was a frequent visitor at football practice and other university athletics.

Connections

On December 28, 1899, he had married Mary Emma Farrell of Paoli, Indiana. They had two children, Catharine Farrell and William Mansford.

Spouse:

Mary Emma Farrell

Daughter:

Catharine Farrell

Son:

William Mansford