Calhoun to be inducted into Business Education Hall of Fame
The late College of Education professor and department head Calfrey C. Calhoun will be inducted into the Business Education National Hall of Fame at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Nov. 1.
Calhoun was head of the department of business education at UGA for 25 years, from 1958-1983, and his scholarship had a national impact. Two of his textbooks, Vocational and Career Education: Concepts and Operations (co-authored with Alton V. Finch) and Managing the Learning Process in Business Education were used for years in classrooms across the nation.
His writing focused on teacher preparation, business education standards, personal finance and business education research. He co-authored the New Office and Business Education Learning System (NOBELS) which was a precursor to the initial national standards for business education published by the National Business Education Association.
His contributions to the Business Education Forum provided valuable information to classroom teachers at many levels. Chapters he wrote for various National Business Education Association yearbooks provided additional resources to business educators. His other publications informed and influenced business education for more than 30 years.
Calhoun's impact was also seen in the hundreds of students who graduated from the Bachelor of Science in Education program at UGA during his tenure. Many of these students returned to UGA to earn master's and doctoral degrees and either remained in a public school setting or moved on to postsecondary education. During his time at UGA, Calhoun chaired 17 doctoral dissertations to completion.
He also influenced a broader scope of student in his role as dean of the School of Technology at East Carolina University, a position he held for five years.
After this service to ECU, Calhoun and his wife, Marjorie, moved back to Leesburg, so she could become an elementary school principal. Not one to rest on his laurels—or rest at all for that matter—he became the director of the Southwest Georgia Regional Education Service Agency, an organization that provides a variety of educational services to member school systems.
Calhoun also served on the National Business Education Executive Board, to which he was ultimately elected president for the 1980-81 term.
He received the 1981 John Robert Gregg Award in recognition of his lifetime achievements in business education. In 1982, he was named the National Business Education Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year.
Calhoun received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University, his master's degree from Vanderbilt University, and two bachelor's degrees, one from Georgia State University and the other from UGA. Calhoun died in 2007.