Leaders and Their Departments

In this chapter, we trace the development over time of the academic departments. We do not attempt to write the history of each department. Rather, we paint a brief sketch of the department’s origins, pay tribute to the Permanent Professors and others who served as Department Heads, and briefly describe the departments as they present themselves today.

The Permanent Professors and Other Department Heads

In almost every instance, a Permanent Professor was selected and appointed to lead a particular academic department. (In this context, we treat the Center for Character and Leadership Development as a department.) It is fair to say that the fundamental building blocks of any college or university are its academic departments. The departments are the basic units because the departments offer the courses, the departments structure the majors’ programs, and the departments hire and guide the faculty who interact directly with students. As the long-term leaders of their departments, each Permanent Professor’s influence is firmly stamped on their department. Each department is different, in part because their disciplines demand different approaches to education and offer different opportunities for students. Each department is also unique because each grew and developed under different, distinctive leaders.

The idea behind appointing Permanent Professors was to stabilize the academic program through appointment of “permanent” department heads who would provide long-term continuity, free of the frequent reassignment process normal in the officer corps. Of course, the Permanent Professors were not actually “permanent.” Some moved to different positions, others left for a year or two for career-broadening assignments (sabbaticals), and some retired. In the absence of their Permanent Professor, department leadership fell to another individual appointed Department Head, sometimes specified as Acting Department Head. These appointments ran from a few months to several years’ duration. Whether permanent or not, the duties and responsibilities of the Department Head were the same: stability and continuity of curriculum, quality of instruction, and organizational management. Therefore, in the lists that follow for each department, the names of the Department Heads are shown year by year. Each of these individuals is due some measure of credit for the success of the institution.

In the pages that follow, we include a brief description of each department under the caption “The Department Today.” This simple snapshot is intended only to identify the department’s main focus, the expanse of its curriculum, and some noteworthy features. This section is drawn mainly from statements the department makes about itself; for instance, on the Academy’s website. When referencing the core courses, these requirements are for the new Core Curriculum, which was adopted in 2017 for the classes of 2021 and subsequent, as discussed earlier in Chapter 3. We conclude each department page by identifying some of the interests, facilities, and programs that make the department unique. Although each department’s main mission is to teach cadets, each also offers special opportunities and emphasis for enriching cadet experiences and faculty professional development that enhance that goal.

The Academic Divisions and Depaertments

The early structure of the academic departments, organized into four academic divisions, has remained essentially intact to this day.