Oral Histories

Interview of Byron H. Atkinson (1975)

UCLA dean of students and athletic director.
Subtitle:
Expanding Student Services at UCLA
Series:
Z: Orphan Interviews pre 1999
Topic:
UCLA and University of California History
UCLA Administration
Biographical Note:
UCLA dean of students and athletic director.
Interviewer:
Spencer, Tine Brouwer
Interviewee:
Atkinson, Byron H.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Abstract:
Childhood in Canada and Boston; move to California, 1927; high school education in Glendale, California; participation in Citizens Military Training Camps program, 1930s; enrollment at UCLA; UCLA, late 1930s; Reserve Officers Training Corps at UCLA; active military duty; return to UCLA as administrative assistant to Earl J. Miller, dean of students; coordinator of veterans affairs and education after World War II; appointment to California Reconstruction and Reemployment Commission, 1943-53; service on Cali-fornia State Board of Education, 1944-61; beginning of new student services concept at UCLA; service as assistant dean of students, 1949-54, dean of men, 1954-60, and dean of students, after 1961; leadership of Clarence A. Dykstra, Raymond B. Allen, Franklin D. Murphy, and Charles E. Young; impact of anticommunist hysteria on UCLA, 1940s and 1950s; Pacific Coast Conference athletic scandal; Educational Opportunities Program at UCLA; Free Speech Movement; campus riots, 1970 and 1972; outlook for student services work.