Lotus Delta Coffman served as President of the University of Minnesota from 1920–1938. He believed that scholarship should connect with the activities of daily life, and should relate to the needs and interests of society. He also held that teachers should receive higher compensation and increased respect and job security, and should be qualified professionals for the service they provide to students.

Coffman (7 January 1875–22 September 1938) was born in Washington Township, Indiana to Mansford E. and Laura Ellen Davis Coffman. He graduated from Salem High School and the Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute. Coffman received his Ph.D. in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where the subject of his dissertation was The Social Composition of the Teaching Population (1911). From this study, he came to the strong conviction that primary and secondary education in the United States was dramatically inadequate, and set out to make teaching a profession with high standards and practices grounded in solid research.
He began his career in education as a teacher in his hometown and subsequently became principal of the Salem public schools.

While he was Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, Coffman was recruited by the University of Minnesota to strengthen its School of Education. For five years he served as dean of the College of Education and pursued his goal of elevating the teaching profession. He eventually was successful in establishing a strong, distinctive School of Education—the first of its kind at any public university.

Coffman became President of the University of Minnesota in 1920. He held fast to his belief that the University had a role in creating a well-educated citizenry, and that all people had the right to improve themselves through education. To help more people benefit from an education, he established a general college with a two-year degree program—the first in the country.

He also helped design the University College program (now the Inter-College program) to enable students to go across departmental and college boundaries to shape their undergraduate degrees, and established the University's Institute of Technology and Center for Continuing Studies.

Many authorities credit Coffman with the philosophical and structural redesign of the University of Minnesota into a modern university. During his presidency, 20 new buildings, including a stadium and an auditorium were constructed. To make way for campus expansion, Coffman resolved a long-standing dispute and got the Northern Pacific Railroad to vacate the tracks running through the campus. He challenged alumni to raise funds for a much-needed student union building, which he believed would serve as the center of the University’s social life and provide students with a place to discuss, challenge, and apply lessons of the classroom without the rigidity of the curriculum. Coffman died of a heart attack before the completion of the building, which was named the Coffman Memorial Union in his honor.

Coffman was also involved in legislation affecting the University of Minnesota and education. He was active in the National Education Association early in the 20th century, and became the first secretary of the NEA Legislative Commission, which lobbied the United States Congress in support of education. He was successful in reducing the influence of the legislature in the routine operations of the university and solidified the position of the Board of Regents in that role.

Contributed by: Robert Achterberg, University of Texas–Austin

References

Keck. D. J. 2003. NEA and academe through the years: The higher education roots of NEA, 1857–present. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association.

Peters, S., N. Jordan, and G. Lemme. 1999. Towards a public science: Building a new social contract between science and society. Minneapolis, Minn.: Active Citizenship Initiative.

Regents of the University of Minnesota. 2000. University of Minnesota sesquicentennial history 1851–2001: Coffman administration, Lotus Coffman. Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota.

Regents of the University of Minnesota. 2001. What is the inter-college program? History. Minneapolis, Minn.:University of Minnesota.

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