Hermann H. Remmers papers

Hermann H. Remmers was born in Norden, Germany and came to the United States when he was eight years old. He studied for two years at Valparaiso University and then went on to the University of Iowa where he obtained his A.B. degree in 1921, his M.A. in 1922, and his Ph.D. in 1927, each in psychology.

Remmers served as an instructor in psychology and education at Colorado College for one year after receiving his M.A. He then joined the Purdue faculty in 1923 as an assistant professor of education and psychology. He became an associate professor in 1926 and a full professor in 1930. He served as major professor for 89 Ph.D. candidates as Purdue began its doctoral program in psychology. In 1928, he also became an administrator, serving as director of Purdue's Division of Educational Reference until his retirement.

He was a summer session lecturer over the years for a number of universities and colleges including the University of Iowa, University of California, University of Washington, University of Southern California, University of British Columbia, and the University of Puerto Rico.

In the field of measurement programs and instruments, he directed the development of the State High School Testing Service for Indiana, which began in the 1930s, and the Purdue Opinion Panel, which has annually, since 1941, conducted three polls of high school students on topics of educational, social, and psychological significance and in the process has amassed an analyzed archive of adolescent opinion.

From 1942 to 1945 he served as an expert consultant in the Personnel Research Section of the Military for the U.S. Army’s Adjutant General’s Office, and was also the regional director for Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky of the U.S. Army’s A-12 and the U.S. Navy’s V-12 College Training Programs qualifying exams. These college training programs were initiated in 1943 to solve the problems of a shortage of commissioned officers in the expanded wartime military. These programs accepted students already enrolled in college reserve programs, enlisted men who were recommended by their commanding officers, and high school seniors who passed the above nationwide qualifying examinations.

Remmers contributed over 375 professional papers to psychological and educational journals and was the author or co-author of several books.

His professional affiliations included the American Association of the Advancement of Science for which he served as secretary of the education section (1940), the American Psychological Association for which he served as president of its Division of Educational Psychology (1951-1952), the American Association of Applied Psychologists, the National Education Association, the American Educational Research Association for which he served as president of the Association (1954-1955) and chairman of the Association’s National Committee on Criteria of Teaching Effectiveness, the Society of Psychological Study of Social Issues, the National Society for Study of Education, and the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education. Remmers was also on the editorial board of the Journal of Experimental Psychology and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Phi Delta Kappa, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

He received the Gordon Barrows Memorial Award from the Indiana Psychological Association in 1964.

After retiring from Purdue in 1963, Remmers briefly taught graduate courses at Johns Hopkins University.