Clarence Addison Dykstra (February 25, 1883 – May 6, 1950) was a U.S.
administrator. He served as the first City Manager in the US in Cincinnati, Ohio after teaching government at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. He then became Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin (1937–1945) as well as Director of the
Selective Service System
The Selective Service System (SSS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States government that maintains information on U.S. Citizenship of the Unite ...
between 1940 and 1941. He then became
Provost of
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
from 1945–1950.
He also served as the Efficiency Director of the City's
Department of Water and Power for
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He argued that the city needed to be further decentralized by expanding highways and creating suburban communities.
Dykstra was appointed by President Roosevelt to chair the 11-member
National Defense Mediation Board, an effort to settle wartime disputes. He served from March 19 to July 1, 1941.
Clarence Dykstra was also the first to advocate student housing at UCLA. Dykstra Hall, which opened in 1959, was the first structure in UCLA's
current undergraduate residential community. It was also the first
co-ed
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
residence hall in the country.
Notes
1883 births
1950 deaths
Conscription in the United States
Leaders of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Leaders of the University of California, Los Angeles
American people of Frisian descent
Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel
{{US-gov-bio-stub