11/15/90--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CREATOR OF MODEL UN DIES: WAS PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA FOR 27 YEARS CEDAR FALLS--
Dr. George Poage, creator of the Model United Nations Program and professor emeritus of history at the University of Northern Iowa, died Wednesday (November 14, 1990) at his home in Cedar Falls. Poage founded the Model U.N. Program for Iowa high school students in 1964, and served as its director for 17 years. The program is a simulation of the operation of the actual United Nations, in which students play roles of diplomats from different countries. Since its inception, more than 10,000 students have participated in the program, held annually on the UNI campus. "Dr. Poage had to get the support of Governor Robert Ray, and work with U.N. officials in Washington, D.C., and New York, and with the local chapter of the United Nations Association to create the Model U.N. Program," said Dr. Richard Newell, a colleague of Poage and professor of history at UNI. "He spent a lot of time and energy to get it started." Poage also was a founder and director of the Governor's Youth Symposium on the United Nations, held each fall in Des Moines.
Poage joined the UNI history department faculty in 1954, and retired in December 1981. He also was a visiting professor of German history at the University of Iowa in 1966-67. He served a a cryptanalyst for the U.S. War Department (German section) from 1941-42, then fought in the Mediterranean Theatre with the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945. In 1951, he earned a bachelor's degree from UNI; he earned his master of arts and doctorate from the University of Iowa in 1952 and 1954, respectively. Poage was a guest of the German government in 1959. when he did research on the German school system. He travelled extensively, including Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Tunisia, Sicily, and Morocco.
During his tenure at UNI, Poage served as chairman of the University faculty from 1971-73; inaugurated and served as chairman of the All-College Conference on International Affairs from 1957 to 1962; co-directed the international affairs program; served as a member of the University's Educational Policies Commission, and as an extension consultant on the United Nations. Poage founded the Iowa Consortium for the Social Studies in 1960; was a long-time board member of the Iowa Division of the United Nations Association; was instrumental in founding a Midwest Model U.N.; and in 1980 was elected a member of the National Council on the United Nations. After his retirement from UNI, Poage remained active in the community, founding, with his wife Pat, a Montessori school in Cedar Falls.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday (November 17) at Dahl-VanHove-Schoof Funeral Home in Cedar Falls.