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A History of the University of Missouri-Columbia
Department of Personal Financial Planning

Note to Researcher: The information about the Department of Personal Financial Planning found on this page was updated in 2006. More current information about the College of Human Environmental Sciences and its departments can be found at the following URL:

History

Curricula in consumer and family economics have been central to the Human Environmental Sciences program since its beginnings in 1900 at the University of Missouri-Columbia as the Department of Household Economics. Principles relating to consumer and family economics in those early years were limited primarily to improving the expertise of students as future homemakers. This orientation was given application through the establishment of a household management house in 1917 that provided supervised practical experience for Home Economics students. Such supervised experience was provided in a series of houses and apartments until the construction of a Home Management Center in 1963 and remained a part of the curriculum of students until the Home Management Center was closed in 1974.

In the mid-1950s a major in Home Management and Family Relationships was established in the Department of Home Economics and, in 1960, a Home Management and Family Economics Section was created following the establishment of the School of Home Economics. At this time there were only five or six students with this major, and emphases were in home management, family economics, and household equipment. The name of the section was changed to Family Economics and Management in 1969 and that name was retained when the section became a department when the College of Home Economics was established in 1973.

A PhD specialization in family and consumer economics was established in 1968 and an undergraduate specialization in rehabilitation for independent living was initiated in 1971, the only undergraduate program of its kind in the nation at that time. This specialization was terminated in 1987. In 1978 a specialization in consumer affairs was added. In 1987 a specialization in personal financial management services was added and the general family-consumer economics management specialization was eliminated. In 1990 the department was renamed Consumer and Family Economics and majors in consumer affairs and personal financial management services were offered. The department again changed its name in 2005, to the Department of Personal Financial Planning

Leadership

Note to Researcher: Information on current administrators in the Department of Personal Financial Planning can be found at the following URL:

• 1957-1959 Ruth H. Cook, Head
• 1960-1966 Anna Cathryn Yost, Head
• 1966-2000 Edward J. Metzen, Chair
• 2000-2003 Richard P. Dowdy, Interim Chair
• 2003-Present Robert O. Weagley, Chair

Sources: University General Catalogs (C:0/51/1/); School of Home Economics Catalogs and Bulletins (C:5/12/1); HES Dean's Office - M. Mangel HE History Records (C:5/1/NP)

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