Glenn S. Dumke Collection of Western Americana

Glenn Dumke was born May 5, 1917 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Dumke earned a Master’s Degree in History from Occidental and his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1942. Dr. Dumke then took up a teaching position at Occidental College in their history department as a specialist in Western American and Hispanic history. On February 3, 1945, he married Dorothy D. Robison. In 1957 Dr. Dumke accepted the position of President of San Francisco State College (SFSC). Shortly after taking up this new position, he was invited to participate on the committee creating the Master Plan for California’s higher education system. From 1961-1962, Dr. Dumke served as the first Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the California State College system. In the twenty years that Dr. Dumke served as Chancellor, he boasted many accomplishments that still influence the CSU today. He expanded several policies that were first initiated when he was Vice-Chancellor; such as the creation of more accredited programs, stronger standards for accreditation of all programs, and the establishment of a system-wide general education program. Dr. Dumke retired as Chancellor in 1982. He also remained an active member on the Board of Trustees for a wide variety of organizations such as Pepperdine University... For his accomplishments as a historian, educator, and administrator, Dr. Dumke received several prestigious national awards including the USO Distinguished American Award and the Award for Individual Excellence in Education from the Freedoms Foundation. Dr. Glenn S. Dumke died suddenly of a heart attack on June 29, 1989. He was survived by his wife Dorothy. They had no children.