Matters came to a head in the early 1930s. Mrs. Hufferd resigned in the spring of 1930 (later claiming she had been forced out of the position by Smith) and was replaced in the fall by Glenn Giddings. Giddings had been a student of O.H. Smith at Cornell College and had just completed his doctoral work in physics at the University of Wisconsin. Shortly after Giddings' arrival, he and Smith noticed that all the direction sheets for the equipment in the general laboratory were missing; they had apparently been taken by Mrs. Hufferd in a last act of revenge.

At about the same time, the two physics professors became aware of a sullen manner among some of the students in the introductory course. As Smith wrote later, the students "were sometimes quite unfriendly in class" and "seemed to feel a lack of confidence in what I taught and how I taught it." These students, as it turned out, were chemistry majors and pre-med students taking courses from Professor Hufferd. According to the reports of students loyal to Smith, they were being urged by Hufferd to take their physics elsewhere, especially if they planned on doing advanced work in the subject. In 1933 Smith took his complaints directly to President G. Bromley Oxnam; it was the last straw in a series of incidents involving Professor Hufferd which led to his dismissal in the spring of that year.

With the exception of the Hufferd affair, the physics department ran smoothly during the 30's. Giddings was thrilled to be teaching alongside his mentor and former teacher, and the two men developed a close friend- ship. The undergraduate curriculum remained largely unchanged throughout the period, with teaching duties divided up according to course work. Smith taught the General Physics course, Optics Laboratory, Electricity and Magnetism, Introduction to Modern Physics, and Electrical Measurements. The remaining courses-- Survey Course in General Physics, Optics and Thermodynamics, Teachers' Course, and Senior Reading Course-- were the responsibility of Giddings. Both were involved with Advanced Laboratory projects.

Headcount enrollments in physics during this period generally hovered between six and eight per cent of the total university enrollment. In the suggested program of study for the major, physics and calculus were usually put off until the sophomore year, with the freshman year devoted to group requirements and other electives. Mathematics through differential equations was recommended for physics majors; mechanics (still taught in the mathematics department) was also recommended as an elective.

In 1934, the department began to offer a Master's Degree program in physics, although relatively little formal course work was involved. In 1936, the first students to receive the M.A. degree in physics from DePauw were Lefler McKee (B.A., DePauw, 1933) and Harold Thompson (B.A., DePauw, 1934). McKee's thesis title was "A description of an experimental X-ray tube and some of its uses"; Thompson wrote on "A study of alternating current experiments for undergraduate students" However, the graduate degree option was never very popular and was officially terminated in 1985; only seven master's degrees were awarded after 1936, the last in 1972.

Back to Preface	Previous Page	Next Page