Dr. Morris Meister (1895 - 1975) was a science educator and administrator who was the founder and first principal of the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

as well as the first president of Bronx Community College. He is noteworthy for his support and application of laboratory-based methods in science education as well as interdisciplinary study.

Early life and education

Morris Meister was born on October 20, 1895, in Gonietz,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

to Harris Meister and Jennie (Kolovsky) Meister. The Meister family moved to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's Lower East Side when Morris was 7 years old. He attended the City College of New York, where he became a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

. His doctoral thesis at the Teachers College of Columbia University in 1921, ''The Educational Value of Certain After-school Materials and Activities in Science'', focused on the role of science related toys in science education. Meister married Florence Suzi Glickstein, a music teacher, in 1921. They had two children, Anna Meister Burton, a psychoanalyst, and Alton Meister, a noted biochemist.

Career

Morris Meister worked as a science teacher in a number of schools in New York City including Stuyvesant High School (1916), The Speyer School (1916-1918),

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , countr ...

(1917-1922). He was instrumental in the creation of science fairs while working as a committee head of the

American Institute of the City of New York The American Institute of the City of New York, or, The American Institute of the City of New York for the Encouragement of Science and Invention was a civic organization that existed from ca. 1828 – ca. 1980. The institute was an association ...

in the 1932s. He served as the second president of the

National Science Teachers Association The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), founded in 1944 (as the National Science Teachers Association) and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is an association of science teachers in the United States and is the largest organization ...

. Meiseter wrote a series of science textbooks called ''Science for a Better World''. Meister was the founding principal of the

from 1938 to 1958. He was the founding president of the Bronx Community College from 1959 to 1966. After retirement he worked as the director of planning at the

New York Hall of Science The New York Hall of Science, also known as NYSCI, is a science museum located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens, in the section of the park that is in Corona. It occupies one of the few remaining structures fr ...

, in

Corona, Queens Corona is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It borders Flushing and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hills and Rego Park to the south, Elmhurst to the southwest, and East ...

. .

Legacy

Meister Auditorium, the Auditorium of the Bronx High School of Science, is named after Dr. Meister. His portrait is displayed at its doors. Meister Hall, a building on the campus of Bronx Community College, is named after Dr. Meister.

References

External links

A Tribute to Founder Dr. Morris Meister (Bronx Science)BCC: History of the College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meister, Morris American school principals Year of death missing The Bronx High School of Science Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Bronx Community College faculty Teachers College, Columbia University alumni City College of New York alumni New York Hall of Science Presidents of Bronx Community College