Schneider, Arnold

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:7435#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: Arnold Schneider was born in 1909. He attended high school in Wisconsin, and after graduation went to work for the Great Northern Railroad in Allouez, Wisconsin. He continued to work for the railroad while he put himself through junior college in Duluth, Minnesota, which he finished in two years. He then attended the Iowa State Teacher's College in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he majored in Business Education. He graduated in 1932. After graduation, he went to Madison, South Dakota, where he taught at Eastern State College. He later worked as Junior Analyst for Merrill Lynch in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and also as an accountant for Ford Motor Company. After receiving his master's degree from the University of Iowa in 1937, he was offered a position at St. Cloud State to begin a Business Education program. He accepted and established the program in the spring of 1938. He remained in St. Cloud State until 1942, when he joined the Navy. After World War II, he returned the university for a year before obtaining a position at Western Michigan University, where he started a College of Business program. He retired in 1974.

Transcript Summary: Schneider chronicled how he came to work in Business Education at St. Cloud State. Schneider said that Minnesota had no program to prepare Business teachers until St. Cloud State president George Selke convinced the State University Board to allow St. Cloud to establish one. Schneider was contacted while he was working on his doctorate in Iow, and jumped at the opportunity to come to St. Cloud. While the program officially began spring semester of 1938, it really took off that following fall. Schneider described the early days of the department, as well as the two other faculty members involved, Clair Dagget and Mary Ferro.

Schneider discussed his educational history. He said that working for the Great Northern Railroad allowed him to put himself through junior college. Schneider mentioned his experiences attending the University of Iowa during the Depression. Schneider also described the very mixed career experiences he had, from teaching business in colleges to working with huge companies like Merrill Lynch and Ford Motor Company. That variety of work experience, Schneider claimed, made him very versatile and aware of the many different aspects of the business world.

Schneider reflected on some of his other experiences, including that of working with World War II veterans. He believed that the GI bill, which allowed veterans to attend college, had a huge effect on education in the United States. He greatly admired veterans as students, and believed they made his classroom a much more dynamic place than it had been before. He felt that state universities became the "common man's school." Schneider also talked about some of St. Cloud State faculty he remembers, such as Clifford Bemis, Herbert Clugston, and Roland Torgerson.