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President and Faculty

West 3rd Street in Maryville in 1905.Map showing the location of the Northwest Normal School in Maryville.Image of the Administration building during its early Normal School years.Construction on the Administration Building officially began in 1907 when the cornerstone was laid on October 12.  The town celebrated the historic event with various activities including speeches by politicians and ice cream socials.Classes were conducted within the Administration Building and the Seminary building during the early Normal School Years.Dirt road leading to the Northwest Normal School.Dean of Faculty-Mathematics,  Dr. Colbert was a graduate of the University of Chicago.  Colbert received a BA and an MA from Lebanon Normal School in Ohio.Registrar for the Normal School, Rickenbrode received a Manager of Accounts degree at Avalon College in Missouri.  Rickenbrode also received a degree at Cedar Rapids Business College.  Northwest's original football stadium, a predecessor to Bearcat Stadium, was named after Rickenbrode.Olive DeLuce was a teacher in the Fine Arts department.  De Luce received her BS from Columbia University in New York.  She also received a BA in Arts and BA in Education from the New York City Teacher's College.  DeLuce was a regionally celebrated painter and many of her original works are housed in the Owens Library Archives.  Northwest's Fine Arts building was named after her.C.E. Wells was the head Librarian and an instructor of Latin American History and Government.  Wells received his BA and MA from Park College in Missouri.  Wells Hall, which was the original campus library prior to the construction of B.D. Owens Library, is named after C.E. Wells and the building now houses the Mass Communication department and KXCV Radio.Mrs. Alice R. Perrin was the Dean of Women.  The Perrin Residence Hall was named after her.Ira Richardson was President of the Northwest Normal School from 1913 to 1921.  Richardson received his Ph.D., at Central College in Fayette, Mo, as well as a MA from Columbia University in New York City.  Richardson also received a MA in Education from New York City Teacher's College.The Northwest Normal School Greenhouse was erected in 1915, east of the Administration Building.  The original glass Greenhouse was destroyed when a tornado ripped through the area in 1919 and was never restored.An important part of the school from its earliest days, the powerhouse was and still is located to the east of the Administration building.The tornado, which destroyed the Green House, also tore off a portion of the Administration Building roof.

The first president of the Normal School was Frank Deerwester and the faculty he hired came from all around the United States, making it a diverse campus for its time. P.O. Landon was the director of Music and George Colbert was the first Mathematics faculty.

Coursework began in the summer of 1906 with classes being located in the Seminary and in various locations around Maryville. Many citizens and merchants in town were concerned with financial repercussions, because Deerwester started classes before the State Legislature actually released money to fund faculty salaries. However, despite these concerns, the 5th District Normal School held their first graduation in August of that year with students who had transferred from other State Normal schools.