Preface

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the founding of Montgomery College, the oldest and largest community college in Maryland. Under the inspiring leadership of Dean Hugh G. Price, Montgomery Junior College, as it was known for its first twenty-three years, began classes on the campus of Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in September 1946. It was under the sponsorship of the Montgomery County Board of Education. From these modest beginnings the College moved four years later to Takoma Park, where it occupied the campus of the Bliss Electrical School, which after fifty-seven years as a well-respected technical institute closed its doors. In response to the growth of Montgomery County, a second campus was opened in Rockville in the fall of 1965. By that time the student body numbered over 3600 and the faculty, including part-time, had reached 200. Thirteen years later—September 1978—the College’s third campus, at Germantown, commenced operation.

Today, with dozens of curriculums and hundreds of courses, Montgomery College has a student enrollment of nearly 18,000 and a full and part-time faculty in excess of 900. In 1969 it underwent a change of name and was placed under an independent board of trustees appointed by the governor.

Among the most important attributes that Montgomery College has possessed since its founding have been the excellence of its teaching, its high academic standards, and the enthusiasm and loyalty of its students. May these qualities always remain.

This book has a two-fold purpose: to honor the College on its fortieth anniversary, and to record the thoughts and recollections of retired faculty and administrators. Invitations to contribute to this
volume were sent to all who have emeritus status. The editors, in turn, requested that each contribution be restricted to about 600 words and that the topic discussed be limited to the writer’s tenure at the College.

We hope that the reader will find enjoyment from the wide variety of subjects covered in these essays. They reflect an abiding affection for Montgomery College.

William Lloyd Fox  |  Jack W. Henry, Jr.  |  Mary R. Dearing  |  Ruth Jörgensen Smock