Dorothy Miller Matala

Position: 
Biology Faculty
December 13, 1962 To: Members of the Faculty State College of Iowa From: J. W. Maucker, President The death of Dr. Dorothy Miller Matala, Professor of Biology, occurred at Schoitz Memorial Hospital this morning following a long illness. Dr. Matala, who received the B. A. from Indiana Central College in 1935, the M. A. from Indiana University in 1938, and the Ph. D. from Cornell University in 1946, came to this college as an instructor in nature study in March 1946. Prior to this., she had been an instructor in science at Cumberland Junior College and at Vincennes University Junior College--both in Indiana.  During the 1950 summer, she served as a consultant in the Conservation Workshop at Fresno, California, State College and in the 1956 summer session she was a consultant in the biology institute at the University of Utah. Dr. Matala was a very capable and highly respected member of our staff.  She was a nationally recognized leader in the current effort to improve the teaching of science in elementary and secondary schools.  She was the director of the National Science Foundation Institutes for Junior High School Science Teachers held on this campus during 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961. She had contributed several articles and reviews to the following magazines since she came to the campus--Nature Magazine, School Science and Mathematics, Parks and Recreation, American Biology Teacher, and The Science Teacher.  At the time of her death, she was a member or the Executive Committee of the American Institute of Biological Science and chairman of the Science Teaching Committee of the Iowa Academy of Science. Funeral services will be held Saturday morning, December 15, at ten o'clock at the Nelson Funeral Home with interment in Fairview Cemetery. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Ray Matala., Associate Professor of Industrial Arts, her mother, a sister, and a brother. The flag will be carried at half-mast today and during the half day of the funeral.  The Campanile will be played during the service in respect to the memory of Dorothy Matala. Senate Minutes Docket No. 765 February 25, 1963 The Faculty Senate met in the Faculty Room, 3:00 pm, February 25, 1963, Keefe presiding. 1. Dr. McCollum read the following resolution: IN MEMORIAM The death of Dorothy Miller Matala on December 13, 1962, was a serious professional loss to State College of Iowa and a deep personal loss to her colleagues and many friends.  Not only will the absence of her leadership be felt on our campus, but also she will be missed in the frontiers of science education throughout Iowa and the entire United States. Dr. Matala was born in Indiana on April 16, 1914.  After attending public schools in Indiana and Florida, she received her A. B. degree from Indiana Central College in 1935, her A. M. from Indiana University in 1938, and her Ph. D. from Cornell University in 1946. Following the receipt of her doctorate, Dr. Matala joined the faculty of State College of Iowa.  She had taught previously in high schools and junior colleges in Indiana.  Her tenure at our college was marked by a variety of outstanding contributions.  She was sought widely throughout our state as a science consultant by elementary and secondary schools.  She was a member of the first staff of the Iowa Teachers Conservation Camp and was very influential in planning and executing its original program and later developments.  She was one of the first of our faculty to work with educational television--both in the form of broadcast teaching and closed-circuit teaching.  She directed our first summer science institute supported by the National Science Foundation and contributed significantly to the plans and administration of all of the science institutes that have been conducted here.  She was respected highly by students as an effective classroom teacher.  She was elected and appointed to many important college committees. During the past ten years, Dr, Matala's professional influence spread at an accelerating rate beyond the campus of SCI.  She served in a number of capacities with the Girl Scouts of America.  She was recognized in a variety of ways as an authority in conservation education and in outdoor education.  She was elected and appointed to a number of important offices of the National Association of Biology Teachers.  For the past several years she had been a member of the Governing Board of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and for the past year was on its Executive Committee.  As a crowning recognition of her many exceptional services to biological education, last August the American Institute of Biological Sciences awarded her an Extraordinary Distinguished Service Citation. She will be remembered as teacher, scientist, scholar, friend.  The future development of many a program in science education in our country will be dedicated to her memory in that it will be based upon one of her many imaginative ideas.  To those who remember her as wife, daughter, and sister, we express our sincerest sympathies. Be it therefore resolved that we honor the memory of Dorothy Miller Matala, and that this resolution be placed on the records of the Senate, and that copies be sent to the members of her family expressing the gratitude of the faculty of State College of Iowa for her service to the College, to the State of Iowa, and to science education throughout these United States. Respectfully submitted: Glenadine Gibb Pauline Sauer Clifford McCollum McCollum moved adoption of the resolution, L. Wagner seconded, Motion carried.