T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History Collection
ABSTRACT
INTERVIEWEE NAME: Peter Soderbergh # 4700.0184
IDENTIFICATION: (1928 - 1998), Dean of College of Education (1976- 1981)
INTERVIEWER: Andrew Mark Holden
PROJECT: LSU History -- Administrators and Faculty
DATES: 11/11/92, 11/18/92, 12/2/92, 12/4/92 FOCUS DATES: 1928 - 1992
ABSTRACT:
Tape 265
Family history; educational background; attending parochial schools; Christian Brothers order and
education; reasons for sending him to parochial school; reasons for his interest in history; childhood
play in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Newark, N.J.; his father's immigration from Sweden and attempts to
become an American culturally; growing up an only child; family size in the 1930s; impact of
parochial school education on building his character; Christian Brothers strict disciplinarians; impact
of World War II on high school textbooks; attending Seton Hall Preparatory School; attending
Lawrenceville (a college prep. boarding school in N. J.); high educational standards of
Lawrenceville; parents' fear of raising a teenager; developing an interest in writing; Lawerenceville's
educational philosophy; reasons for becoming a teacher; describes headmaster Alvin Heely; deciding
which college to attend; reasons for choosing Amherst; reasons for majoring in history and fine arts;
veterans attending Amherst on the G.I. Bill; impact of Amherst on his development; desire to
become a college professor; Professor of Drama Curt Canfield ; reasons for joining the Marine
Corps; outlines career in the Marines; instructor for "Charm School" (Instructor Training Section)
at Quantico; working as Marine recruiter; decision to resign from the Corps and attend graduate
school
Tape 266
Family history; parents' reasons for sending him to boarding school; interest in history; fascination
with movies; attending Harvard for master's degree; balancing graduate school with having a family;
first teaching job in Andover, Mass.; job as principal in Andover; director of student teaching at
Emory in 1961; moving family to Atlanta; enrolls in doctoral program at the University of Texas in
1963; describes UT's doctoral program; Charles Whitman killing people from the Tower at UT;
teaching at UT after earned his doctorate; interest in diverse subjects and writing about them; making
time for his children while in the doctoral program; job as professor at the University of Pittsburgh;
reasons for taking the job at Pittsburgh; describes the courses he taught; sending his children to
public schools; Vietnam War; takes job as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of
Virginia in 1973; fear that his age will become a deterrent to his ability to find administrative jobs;
using UVA as a stepping stone to getting position as the dean of a college of education; describes
UVA; duties as associate dean of academic affairs; decision to apply for position of dean of the
College of Education at LSU; state of the College of Ed. in the mid-1970s
Tape 267
Nature versus nurture; fate; qualities of a well-rounded professor; qualities of a good teacher;
describes his parents' reaction to his becoming a teacher; impact of frequent moves on his family;
faculty of the College of Ed.'s reaction to him; hired to revamp the College of Ed.
Tape 268
Administration's reasons for hiring an outside person to be dean; problems in LSU's College of
Education; fear and resentment of faculty members; composition of faculty; organization of the
College of Ed.; describes his predecessors; backwardness of College of Education when he arrived;
hired to revitalize the College; describes the changes he made in the College of Ed.; status of
Education on campus before he made changes; faculty perception of him; students' view of
Education when he first arrived; bringing in new faculty members and improving quality of teaching
and courses offered; securing grants; support of Chancellor Paul Murrill and Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs Otis Wheeler; drawing up plan of action for revitalizing the college; support of
State Board of Education for changes in the college; lack of organization on part of his opponents
in the college; accomplishments as dean; describes his administrative style; resignation of Murrill
and the end of his deanship; division develops within the college as he brought new people in;
graduate students; poor quality of dissertations when he arrived; reorganization of the College of
Education; "hands on" approach to being dean; dismissed by Chancellor Wooden days before the
start of the semester
T269
Describes the impact his changes made on the College of Education; feelings about being replaced;
describes how his replacement was selected; banished to an office in Himes Hall; discusses his goals
while he was dean; creating a student evaluation system for professors; failure to implement peer
evaluations; bringing in research funds; decision to remain at LSU; role in formulation of the core
curriculum at LSU; describes the course (EDCI 1000) he taught after leaving the deanship; discusses
his publication history; inability to become member of the graduate faculty
TAPES: T265, T266, T267, T268, T269 TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 4 hours & 45 min.
# PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 192
RESTRICTIONS: None