Chauncey P. Colegrove (1855-1936) was the first head of the Department of Education, first head of the Extension Division and former vice president of Iowa State Teachers College. Famed nationally as lecturer and author, Dr. Colegrove became well known as an Iowa educator at ISTC before he left in 1914 to become president of Upper Iowa University in Fayette. Having graduated from Upper Iowa in 1882 with an A.B. degree, he became principal of the Normal and Preparatory Department at Upper Iowa from 1882-1886, principle of the Waukon Public Schools from 1886-1891, and president of Nora Springs Seminary from 1891-1895. In 1895 he received his A.M. degree from Chicago University. Coming to Iowa State Normal School in 1896, Dr. Colegrove was president of psychology and didactics for twenty years, became vice president of the college and chairman of the Department of Education when that department was founded in 1908 and first head of the Extension Division when that department became separately organized in 1915. He married Emma Ridley in 1899, and they had five children. She died in 1951. His book, The Teacher and the School, was widely read by educators all over the nation. Also, for the Iowa Department of Public Instruction Dr. Colegrove wrote a Course of Study and Manual of Methods for the elementary schools in Iowa. This information was adapted from Dr. Colegrove's obituary in The Alumnus, vol. 20 #3, July 1, 1936.
