Nunn, William

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:7477#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: William Nunn was born in 1922 in Paris, Texas. His father was a lawyer who worked in Paris and Bonham, Texas. Nunn graduated from Bonham High School in 1940, then attended Northern Texas State University in Denton, Texas. In 1943, he joined the Army and was active during World War II. After the war, Nunn returned to college to finish his degree. Nunn began taking teaching courses, having gained an interest in teaching during the War. In 1948, he received his master's degree in Political Science. He taught high school in Galveston, Texas, then gained some experience teaching in Lab Schools in Colorado and Texas. In 1954, St. Cloud State president George Budd offered Nunn a job supervising student teaching. He did this until 1960, then moved to the History Department. Nunn also served as the head of the Legislative Committee, as well as president of the Faculty Association from 1965 to 1967. In addition, Nunn worked with St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict in central Minnesota to set up a tri-college East Asian Studies Program, which he was still involved in at the time of this interview. The program took him to Japan 13 times, and allowed him to set up a seminar class on Japan which he taught frequently.

Transcript Summary: Nunn described his educational background, with some focus on his family background, too. He said his father was a very successful attorney in Texas, which initially inspired him to pursue law in college. However, he chronicled how his experiences in the Army during World War II led him to change his path to instead pursue teaching. Nunn talked about how he decided to pursue his master's degree in Political Science, which led him to gain experience teaching in different lab schools around the country.

Nunn started at St. Cloud State in 1954. His job was to supervise student teachers. He described the state that the program was in when he arrived and how several other professors who were involved with it, including Bill Cotton and John Talbot. Nunn claimed he had success in opening districts in Milaca, Paynesville, and other areas to student teachers from St. Cloud. Nunn described his experience in the History department, as well as his time as head of the legislative committee and as Faculty Association president. Nunn believed that the increased departmentalization at the college, which accompanied its rapid growth, has hurt the institution in many ways.

Nunn expressed his view of how St. Cloud State changed since 1954 when Nunn arrived. He discussed some major events that impacted the school, such as the unrest that occurred during the Vietnam War. He claimed that SCSU has always had an image problem that the university was not a good school and its label as a party school was misleading. Nunn claimed that St. Cloud State never really been able to get a good feel of the community, that the two never really got to know each other. Finally, Nunn described his efforts at establishing the tri-college East Asian Studies Program and his several trips to Japan.

Interview by Robert Nelson