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A History of the University of Missouri-Columbia
Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Note to Researcher: The College of Human Environmental Sciences was disbanded in 2021.

According to the HES web page (https://hes.missouri.edu/) from the summer of 2021:

"On February 8, 2021, the University of Missouri announced the restructuring of the College of Human Environmental Sciences. On March 3, 2021, the University announced the new college homes of the five academic units in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. The transition of departmental faculty, staff, and students to new academic homes occurred on July 1, 2021.

Departments:

• The Department of Architectural Studies is now administered by the College of Arts and Science. The department office is still physically located at 137 Stanley Hall.
• The Department of Textile and Apparel Management is now administered by the College of Arts and Science. The department office is still physically located in 137 Stanley Hall.
• The Department of Human Development and Family Science joined the College of Education & Human Development. The department office is physically located in 102 Gwynn Hall.
• The Department of Personal Financial Planning (PFP) joined the Division of Applied Social Sciences within the College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources (CAFNR). The department is currently located in 239 Stanley Hall but will move to Mumford Hall in August.
• Faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology currently housed in HES moved into CAFNR in the newly formed Division of Food, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences. The department is still physically located in 204 Gwynn Hall.
• Extension faculty currently in PFP, along with the Center for Financial and Economic Education, joined the Marketing Department in the Trulaske College of Business, while Extension faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology joined various academic units within the School of Health Professions.

• Extension faculty and staff in HES Youth and Family Extension will be moving to Gentry Hall in August."

The information about the College of Human Environmental Sciences found on the remainder of this page was originally compiled in 1999.

History

The University of Missouri-Columbia's Home Economics program has provided instruction in child rearing since the early 1900s when courses were taught by the department's first chair, Edna Day. In the 1920s, the department established a laboratory attended by young children to allow students to observe child behavior. During World War II, Home Economics provided a two-year course in child care to meet "the demand for young women to aid in caring for children of working mothers." In the early 1950s, a Child Care and Development major was established which was renamed Child Development and Family Life shortly thereafter. The Child Development Laboratory continued to provide observation as well as practicum experience. The Laboratory originally occupied quarters in Gwynn Hall, but was moved to Army barracks located east of Memorial Union as Home Economics programs expanded. A study of children's television viewing, the first graduate student research in the Child and Family Development section, was carried out in the old barracks. The Laboratory moved to Stanley Hall with its completion in 1960.

Child Development and Family Life was established as a section when Home Economics became a school in 1960. When Home Economics became a college in 1973, the section was given departmental status and became the Department of Child and Family Development with emphases in either human or family development. The first MS was granted in 1962 and the first PhD in 1972. In the late 1970s, an undergraduate emphasis in family and micro-environments was added and the department developed a cooperative degree program in Early Childhood Certification with the College of Education. A dual degree with Social Work was established in 1982. By 1983 the Department had five undergraduate emphasis areas: children in group settings, early childhood certification, human and community services, family studies, and medical child development. In 1989 the Department was renamed Human Development and Family Studies and in the late 1990s, the HES Education program was transferred from the College of Education to HDFS and became Family and Consumer Sciences Education.

Leadership

Note to Researcher: Information on current administrators in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies can be found at the following URL:

• 1960-1969 Ruth Cooper Cook, Head
• 1969-1975 Virginia Lee Fisher, Chair
• 1975-1993 Marilyn Coleman, Chair
• 1994-2002 Mark Fine, Chair
• 2002-2006 Taresa M. Cooney, Chair
• 2006- Jean M. Ispa and Larry Ganong, Co-chairs

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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