College
of Education building named for former dean
Travelstead
honored
The College
of Education administration building was recently dedicated
as Travelstead Hall in honor of former dean Chester Travelstead,
Ph.D., and his contributions to the college, university and
education.
UNM President
F. Chris Garcia presided over the ceremony attended by more
than 200 of Travelsteads friends, family and colleagues.
Travelstead
served as dean of the College of Education from 1956 to 1968
before becoming vice president for Academic Affairs and then
UNMs first provost.
Openness, light and diversity were
the hallmarks of Dean Travelsteads leadership and
they are the foundation of building a better future for
New Mexico.
COE Dean Viola Florez
I
thank President Garcia and the University of New Mexico Regents
for the great honor they have bestowed upon me by affixing my
name to this beautiful building. I am very appreciative and
humbled by the action they have taken, Travelstead said,
adding praise for retired faculty Harold Drummond, David Darling
and Frank Angel who recommended to current Dean Viola Florez
that the building be so named.
Under Travelsteads
leadership, the college acquired its first accredited doctoral
programs, implemented the first entrance exam requirements for
second-year undergraduates, and created a University-wide advisory
council to improve teacher preparation.
However,
his achievements went beyond internal programs. The college
also expanded its outreach and accountability to the Albuquerque
Public Schools and the New Mexico State Department of Education
and significantly expanded educational outreach to Latin America.
Travelstead also championed the colleges move from aging
Hodgin Hall to a new eight-building COE complex in 1963.
We
honor
one of the colleges most important deans, a man who was
instrumental in placing teaching both in classrooms across
the state and in the college itself on a modern, professional
footing, Florez said at the dedication. He was the
force that moved the college from the then-failing Hodgin Hall
to a new COE complex. This award-winning building, which was
designed by noted Albuquerque architect Max Flatow, was the
first building [at UNM] to break with [Spanish Pueblo Revival]
tradition...Its striking stained glass mosaic is reminiscent
of the beauty of our multicultural population. Openness, light
and diversity were the hallmarks of Dean Travelsteads
leadership and they are the foundation
of building a better future for New Mexico.
Travelstead
continues to improve teacher education, Florez said.
Three years ago, he began work with the college to establish
an endowed faculty position in teacher education.
Thanks
to his hard work and the generous contributions of his friends,
family and members of the community, the campaign qualified
for an additional $37,500 in state matching funds provided by
Senate Bill 14, and today, the UNM College of Education Chester
C. Travelstead Distinguished Faculty Fellowship is now a reality,
she said.
Following
the building dedication and at a luncheon in Travelstead's honor,
an oil painting of the former dean donated by Albuquerque artist
Leo Nufield was dedicated to the COE by Travelstead's two sons,
Coleman and Jim.