Glenn S. Dumke Papers

Glenn S. Dumke was born May 5, 1917 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. At age five, his family moved to Glendale, California where his father, William Frederick Dumke, became a buying agent for a major Los Angeles grocery business. Originally, his mother, Marjorie Schroeder Dumke, was the home maker, largely responsible for raising Glenn and his sister. After William died, she went to work as a title searcher in the Land and Titles Office of Los Angeles.

Dumke's K-12 schooling occurred at the UCLA Training School before attending Occidental College as a history major. While at Occidental, Dumke also studied art and photography before graduating with his history degree in 1938. He earned a Master's Degree in History from Occidental and his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1942. He then took up a teaching position at Occidental College in their history department as a specialist in Western American and Hispanic history. On February 3, 1945, he married Dorothy D. Robison. While teaching at Occidental, Dumke published numerous articles, and several books. His most notable publications during his Occidental years were the books: The Boom of the Eighties in Southern California (1944);Mexican Gold Trail: The Journal of a Forty-Niner (1945); and co-authored book (with Osgood Hardy),A History of the Pacific Area in Modern Times (1949). In later years, Dumke also published Western Fiction stories under the pseudonyms Glenn Pierce and Jordan Allen. In 1950, he became Dean of Faculty at Occidental while he also continued to teach occasional classes.

In 1957 Dumke accepted the position of President of San Francisco State College (SFSC). Shortly after taking up this new position, he was invited to participate on the committee creating the Master Plan for California's Higher Education system. After his work on the Master Plan Survey Team, Dumke served as the first Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the California State College system from 1961-1962. During that year, the first Chancellor of the new CSC system, Buell Gallagher, resigned from the position after eight months. After a short search, the Board of Trustees appointed Dumke to the chancellorship.

Dumke is the longest serving Chancellor of the California State University, beginning his tenure during the second year of the California State Colleges formation and governance under the Board of Trustees from 1962 through extensive growth and change. He retired in 1982 after twenty years. After retiring he remained active as President for several think tanks including "The Institute for Contemporary Studies" (1982-1986) and the "Foundation for the 21st Century" (1986-1989). He also remained an active member on the Board of Trustees for a wide variety of organizations such as Pepperdine University, University of the Redlands, Joint Council on Economic Education, The West Coast Advisory Board, and the California Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Dumke remained active in a host of social clubs including the Bohemian Club, Commonwealth Club, Los Angeles Club, Virginia Country Club, Rotary Club (Long Beach), and the California Club.

For his accomplishments as a historian, educator, and administrator, Dumke received several prestigious national awards including the USO Distinguished American Award and the award for Individual Excellence in Education from the Freedoms Foundation. Dr. Glenn S. Dumke died suddenly of a heart attack on June 29, 1989 at age 72. He was survived by his wife Dorothy. They had no children. Mrs. Dorothy Dumke remarried Mr. Bruce Elliot and died on March 15, 2008 at age 89.