Burchard Woodson DeBusk

Burchard Woodson DeBusk (October 23, 1877 – July 29, 1936)[1] was a professor of education at the University of Oregon, United States.

Burchard Woodson DeBusk
Image courtesy of the Oregon State Library
Born(1877-10-23)October 23, 1877
DiedJuly 29, 1936(1936-07-29) (aged 58)
Alma materClark University
OccupationProfessor of Education
Years active1905 – 1936
EmployerUniversity of Oregon
OrganizationSchool of Education
SpouseSara Matella Druley

Early life and education

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DeBusk was born in 1877 in Shelbyville, Indiana. He attended Central Normal College in Danville, Indiana, in the 1890s. While at Danville, DeBusk taught students at rural Indiana schools.[2] He received a bachelor of arts degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 1904, and he was awarded a Ph.D. in education from Clark University in 1915.[3]

DeBusk married Sara Matella Druley, a classmate at Indiana University, in 1905.[2]

Career

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In 1904 DeBusk became a psychology instructor at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, and in 1910 he was appointed associate professor of psychology at Colorado State Teachers College.[3]

DeBusk joined the faculty at the University of Oregon College of Education in 1915, a job he kept until his death in 1936. He quickly became a noted expert in educational psychology and school hygiene. While at Oregon, DeBusk traveled and lectured frequently, serving as a consultant to school districts and even to the juvenile court in Portland, Oregon.[4] In the 1920s, DeBusk headed the department of research at Portland Public Schools.[2]

DeBusk died soon after suffering a myocardial infarction in July 1936.[5] The Clinic for Exceptional Children, a center for remedial testing and evaluation at the College of Education, was renamed DeBusk Memorial Clinic for Exceptional Children.

Publications

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  • The persistence of language errors among school children (UO Press, 1930)
  • with Grace Fernald and Lillian Rayner, Clinical Nuggets (UO Press, 1930)
  • with R. W. Leighton, A study of pupil achievement and attendant problems (UO Press, 1931)

References

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  1. ^ Oregon State Board of Higher Education
  2. ^ a b c Sheldon, Henry Davidson (1936), "Burchard Woodson DeBusk: A Biographical Sketch with Special Reference to His Public Activities in Oregon from 1915 to 1924", DeBusk Memorial Essays, Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon
  3. ^ a b "Dr. DeBusk, Nationally Famous Educator, Dies". Register Guard. Eugene, Oregon: Alton F. Baker. July 30, 1936. p. 1. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  4. ^ Thacher, George A. (July 1917). "Feeble-Mindedness and Crime in Oregon". The Journal of Delinquency. II (4). Whittier, California: Whittier State School: 211. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  5. ^ De Busk Memorial Essays
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