Ford, Gervais W. (G.W.) (1921-2007)
Date Updated
10-8-2019
Department
Education
Academic Rank
Professor
Year Retired from SJSU
1991
Educational Background
Stanford University, 1952 Ed.D.
University of Chicago, 1947 MA
Tulane University, 1943 AB
Teaching Experience
San Jose State University, 1951-1991 (During 2‑year leave of absence, served as an Assoc. Superintendent, American Dependents Schools in Europe, N. Africa, Mid‑East, 1963-1965)
Louisiana State University, 1948-1950
Elgin (Illinois) High School, 1947-1948
Administrative and Professional Experience
Consultant to school districts, California Department of Education, and U.S. Department of Education.
Served as Chairman of Department of Secondary Education and as an Associate Dean of Education at San Jose State University.
Served as director of many projects fostering educational development in California and overseas.
Selected Publications
The Structure of Knowledge and the Curriculum, co‑authored with Lawrence Pugno.
Several articles concerned with secondary school curriculum and instruction and with teacher education.
Files
Personal Commentary
From a family of educators. Mother and father were teachers, and father served many years as a school principal and superintendent. My two brothers became college professors.
During World War II, I left the academic arena for the (then) U.S. Army Air Corps. Completed a tour‑of‑duty in heavy bombers (35 bombing missions, mostly to targets in Germany). Then transferred to fighter aircraft and flew about 100 hours in combat operations until the war ended in Europe in 1945. Relatively few other pilots in the 8th Air Force did that kind of "double duty" during World War II.
Date Completed: 8/96
Adapted from: Biographies of Retired Faculty San Jose State University 1997: A Project of the Emeritus Faculty Association of San Jose State University. San Jose, CA: The University, 1997.