Archives/4. Faculty, Staff, and Board Members

Overview Asa S. Knowles (1909-1990) was President of the Associated Colleges of Upper New York (1946-1948), Vice-President of University Development at Cornell University (1948-1951), President of the University of Toledo (1951-1958), and President, later Chancellor, at Northeastern University (1959-1981). He was also on the board of directors of Shawmut Bank of Boston, N.A. from 1961 to 1989(?) and on the board of directors of Shawmut Corporation from 1965 to 1989(?). Knowles wrote a history of Shawmut...

Overview Carl Stephens Ell was the second President of Northeastern University from 1940 to 1959. He was born in Staunton, Indiana on November 14, 1887, son of Jacob and Alice (Stephens) Ell. His education included an A.B. in 1909 from DePauw University, a S.B. in 1911 and M.S. in 1912 in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an Ed.M. in 1932 from Harvard University. He married Etta May Kinnear on June 10, 1913 and had one daughter, Dorothy. He began teaching at...

Overview Frank Palmer Speare (FPS), the first president of Northeastern University (NU), was a leading figure in the field of education. During his 43 years at NU, the institution developed from a small school to one of the nation's largest private universities. FPS was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts on March 31, 1869. He graduated from Bridgewater State Teachers' College in 1889. From 1896 to 1916 he served as the Educational Director of the Evening Institute of the Boston YMCA. In 1916 the...

Overview Doris Oberg attended many university functions with her husband, Rudolf O. Oberg, and took pictures. Rudolf Oberg was a member of Northeastern University Class of 1926. He was director of Alumni Affairs at Northeastern University for over 25 years and worked there for nearly 50 years. Rudolf Oberg died in 1973, and Doris Oberg died in March 1993.