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A capable successor to Dr. Henry Kirby
Taylor was waiting in the wings. Ira Richardson first joined the
normal staff as head of the Education Department and Training
School, where he proved to be an able administrator with an eye
for promising faculty talent.
A native North Missourian who graduated from Central College in
Fayette, Richardson served as a public school superintendent before
moving to New York and earning a pair of master’s degrees
from Columbia University.
As president, he sought “picked men and women” capable
of forging the academic core needed to transform Fifth District
Normal into a true four-year undergraduate institution. It took
time, but in 1919, the General Assembly passed legislation changing
the school’s name to Northwest Missouri State Teachers College.
Richardson spent the brief remaining years of his presidency building
programs that reflected the school’s new status. Within
three years after Northwest granted its first B.S.E. degrees,
the American Association of Teachers Colleges ranked it among
the top teacher training institutions in the United States.
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