Robert E. Bills

Background

Robert Edgar Bills was born on December 15, 1916, in Nutley, New Jersey. He was the son of Willis Bills and Leah Bills. His professional life later became closely associated with teacher education and educational psychology in Kentucky and Alabama.

Education

Bills earned a Bachelor of Science from Western Kentucky University in 1938, a Master of Arts from the University of Kentucky in 1946, and a Doctor of Education from Columbia University in 1948. His academic preparation in education and educational psychology supported a career that moved from public-school teaching into university research, faculty leadership, and administration.

Career

Bills began his professional career as a teacher with the Breathitt County Board of Education in Kentucky from 1938 to 1942. He subsequently taught for the Anchorage Board of Education in Kentucky during 1943–1945 and served as a critic teacher in the University of Kentucky College of Education from 1945 to 1946. He later joined higher education, becoming associated with the College of Arts and Sciences and the biological sciences at Auburn University, where he served as an associate professor, professor, and chairman of the department during the 1950s and early 1960s. His work combined teaching, research, and academic administration. Bills then joined the University of Alabama, where he became a professor of educational psychology, a research professor in education, and later professor emeritus. He served as interim dean of the College of Education from 1963 to 1969. During his deanship, the college expanded the size and range of its programs and ranked among leading regional institutions in graduate and undergraduate degree production. He also represented the University of Alabama in international teacher-education agreements, including a 1966 agreement involving schools in Colombia. Bills's research focused especially on self-concept, acceptance of self, adjustment, values, and student-centered teaching. His Index of Adjustment and Values, developed with Edgar L. Vance and Orison S. McLean, became an important instrument in educational and psychological research.

Achievements

• Developed the Index of Adjustment and Values with Edgar L. Vance and Orison S. McLean, an assessment instrument measuring self-concept, ideal self, values, and adjustment.

• Led the University of Alabama College of Education as interim dean from 1963 to 1969 during a period of substantial program growth and expansion.

• Contributed research on self-concept, acceptance of self, adjustment, values, and student-centered teaching to educational and psychological literature.

Works

• Assessment manual

  • An Index of Adjustment and Values

    (Co-authored with Edgar L. Vance and Orison S. McLean; int...)

    1951

• research article

  • Personality Changes During Student Centered Teaching

    (Study of personality change associated with student-cente...)

    1956

• research paper

  • An Investigation of Student Centered Teaching

    (Research paper examining student-centered teaching.)

    1953

• Yearbook contribution

  • Mental Health and Teacher Education: Forty-Sixth Yearbook 1967

    (Contributor to the yearbook published by the Association ...)

    1967

Membership

Bills participated actively in professional and scholarly organizations. He was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and served as secretary-treasurer of an APA division from 1963 to 1966. He served as a director of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development from 1962 to 1964, was vice president of the Mid-South Educational Research Association in 1978 and president in 1979, and maintained memberships in Sigma Xi, Kappa Delta Pi, Psi Chi, and Phi Delta Kappa. He also served on the national staff of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary from 1989 to 1998.

• Fellow; served as secretary-treasurer of a division.

  American Psychological Association , United States

  1963 - 1966

• Served as a director.

  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development , United States

  1962 - 1964

• Served as vice president in 1978 and president in 1979.

  Mid-South Educational Research Association , United States

• Served on the national staff.

  United States Coast Guard Auxiliary , United States

  1989 - 1998

• Sigma Xi , United States

• Kappa Delta Pi , United States

• Psi Chi , United States

• Phi Delta Kappa , United States

Connections

Bills was the son of Willis Bills and Leah Bills. His professional connections included colleagues and collaborators in educational psychology and teacher education, including Edgar L. Vance and Orison S. McLean, with whom he developed the Index of Adjustment and Values.

Father:

Willis

Mother:

Leah

References

• The University of Alabama College of Education History and Buildings Documents Robert E. Bills's tenure as dean of the University of Alabama College of Education during the mid-1960s and the program growth associated with his administration.
• A Comparative Study of the Programs Between the University of Alabama and the Association of American Schools in the Republic of Colombia Contains a 1966 agreement bearing Robert E. Bills's signature as dean of the University of Alabama College of Education.
  1966
• Carl R. Rogers Papers Archival finding aid documenting Robert E. Bills's association with research materials concerning educational and psychological work.