Dr.
Herbert Stack
Class of 1990
Background:
Herbert J. Stack was born March 29, 1892, in Orange, Massachusetts,
USA. He received his doctorate from Columbia University in
1929. The University of Massachusetts, his alma mater at the
undergraduate level, awarded him an honorary doctorate for
his contributions to safety. Dr. Stack died in March, 1967.
Professional
Experience:
Dr. Stack began his work in safety during World War I as a
member of the first group to test the efficacy of parachute
designs. Serving as a commissioned officer in the Army Air
Service, he designed different configurations of parachutes
and was the first person to jump with an experimental parachute.
He was a close personal friend of both General "Billy"
Mitchell and air ace Eddie Rickenbacker, with whom he maintained
lifelong relationships. Dr. Stack was director of education
for the National Conservation Bureau of the Association of
Casualty and Surety Companies in the early 1930s. In June
1938, Dr. Stack was appointed the founding director of the
Center for Safety Education, New York University, where he
established the first Ed.D. and Ph.D. offerings in safety
education through the university's School of Education. These
programs prepared persons for leadership in the safety profession
for two decades. Dr. Stack retired in 1957 and devoted his
remaining years to writing and serving as a consultant to
many organizations interested in safety education.
Career
Highlights:
Dr. Stack authored Safety Education in the Secondary Schools
and edited A Manual for Teachers (for use with Man and the
Motor Car). He co-authored Highway Safety and Driver Education
(with Leon Brody) and Education for Safe Living (with Elmer
B. Siebrecht and later with J. Duke Elkow). Dr. Stack founded
the American Academy of Safety Education in 1962 and served
as its first president. He foresaw the significance of occupational
safety as a necessary profession. He encouraged a fellowship
in the field in 1941, which produced the first graduate instruction
in what is now the most widely practiced area in the safety
profession. An editorial in The New York Times at the time
of Dr. Stack's death in 1967 summarized his major achievements
as follows:
"Dr.
Herbert J. Stack....might well be called the father of safety
education in America. He received his doctorate, with his
dissertation in safety, from Columbia University in 1929 and
since then served for nearly twenty years as Director of the
Center for Safety Education at New York University.
Dr. Stack
was pre-eminently a man of action, of great energy and unflagging
zest for his many interests in safety. He influenced hundreds
of his students and thousands of leaders in the fields of
traffic, industry, home and recreation safety. Dr. Stack was
a noted lecturer and a prolific writer. He authored numerous
textbooks, contributed hundreds of articles, and created many
courses of study.
In recognition
of his eminent leadership in the field of safety education,
Dr. Herbert J. Stack received many honors. These include the
first Paul Gray Hoffman Award, the Arthur Williams Memorial
Medal, and numerous certificates, plaques, and honorary life
memberships. Safety education will miss his dignified and
dedicated leadership."
