Community service

Abstract J. William Rioux was the president of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from 1967-1973, prior to which he worked for the U.S. Department of Education. He was a native of Detroit and received his Ed. D. at Wayne State University. During his time at Merrill-Palmer he worked to diversify the student body, establish a graduate degree program, work with urban youth, and bring more students into the program. He also emphasized dissemination and publication of research by Merrill-Palmer faculty and...

Abstract Dr. Michael D. Usdan was president of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from 1974-1977. Educated at Brown University and Teachers College at Columbia University, Usdan worked as a professor at City University of New York before joining Merrill-Palmer. He published widely, writing mainly on educational politics. His records document his work on urban and lower income youth in the Detroit area, as well as research and conferences focusing on urban poor, parent-child relationships and the impact of...

Abstract Dr. Pauline Park Wilson Knapp was the president and director of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from 1952-1967. Knapp received her B.S. in Home Economics from the University of Kentucky and M.A. and Ph. D in Psychology from Columbia University. She established the first Child Development Center in Georgia in 1928, was head of the Department of Family and Life at the University of Alabama from 1941-45 and the Dean of the School of Home Economics at the University of Georgia from 1946-52. In...