George Frederick "Fred" Zook (April 22, 1885 – August 17, 1951) was an American educator who was President of the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...

U.S. Commissioner of Education The Commissioner of Education was the title given to the head of the federal Office of Education, which was historically a unit within and originally assigned to the Department of the Interior in the United States. The position was created on March ...

, and President of the

American Council on Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,700 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher educatio ...

Life and career

Zook was born on April 22, 1885, on a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

near Fort Scott, Kansas, the son of Stephen Douglas Zook and Helen Follenius.Education: Zook
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', July 3, 1933 He enrolled at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in 1902, funding his education by driving a

hearse A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately a ...

. After graduation he was a fellow at the University of Kansas, then an assistant at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, and a faculty member at Penn State University, where he advanced from instructor to full professor. His PhD ''The Company of Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa'', was Published in the

Journal of Negro History ''The Journal of African American History'', formerly ''The Journal of Negro History'' (1916–2001), is a quarterly academic journal covering African-American life and history. It was founded in 1916 by Carter G. Woodson. The journal is owned and ...

in 1919. He subsequently specialised in modern European history. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he worked in propaganda. In 1920 he began a 5-year stint as chief of the Division of Higher Education in the U. S. Bureau of Education. In 1925 he became president of the

, serving there until 1933. In July 1933 he assumed the position of Commissioner of Education under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

.Education: Schools at the Turn
''

'', September 18, 1933 He resigned the following year, effective July 1, 1934, to become head of the

(ACE).Education: Studebaker for Zook
''

'', May 28, 1934 Zook was president of the ACE from 1934 until retiring in 1950. During his tenure, the organization's membership grew from 269 to 1,093 member groups and became an important voice in education policy. Among the new policy initiatives it supported was the

Fulbright Scholars The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

program. In 1946 President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

appointed Zook to chair a 28-member Presidential Commission on Higher Education that was given the charge of reexamining the U.S. system of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

"in terms of its objectives, methods, and facilities; and in the light of the social role it has to play." In 1947 the commission produced a six-volume report entitled ''

Higher Education for American Democracy Higher Education for American Democracy was a report to U.S. President Harry S. Truman on the condition of higher education in the United States. The commission to write this report was established on July 13, 1946, and it was chaired by George F. ...

'' that recommended changes to expand opportunities for postsecondary education. George Zook was married to Susie Gant, a fellow student at Kansas. They were the parents of an adopted son. Zook died August 17, 1951, at age 66.The 1950s: Education: Deaths
Encyclopedia.com, accessed June 22, 2010

References

External links

of ''

'', September 18, 1933 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zook, George F. 1885 births 1951 deaths 20th-century American educators Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel People from Fort Scott, Kansas Pennsylvania State University faculty Presidents of the University of Akron United States Bureau of Education people University of Kansas alumni Cornell University alumni