Biographical Note
Gilfillan's career at Oregon State University spanned over 60 years as a
student (B.S. Pharmacy, 1918), Professor of Chemistry (1927-1939), and Dean of
Science (1939-1962).
F.A. Gilfillan was officially appointed as Acting President of Oregon
State College in September 1941 after the resignation of President Ballard.
However he had been serving as chair of the Administrative Council and carrying
out the president's campus duties since October 1940. He lead the University
through the uncertain months of the beginning of World War II until A.L.
Strand's arrival in October 1942.
A native of Oklahoma, Gilfillan earned a B.S. degree in Pharmacy from
Oregon Agricultural College in 1918. After serving in the Army chemical warfare
department, he attended Yale University and earned a doctoral degree in
chemistry.
He retired as Dean of Science in 1962, but continued his close ties with
Oregon State University by teaching German for six years and remained in
Corvallis until his death in 1983.
As Dean of Science for more than 20 years, Gilfillan was known to many
on campus and in the community as "Dean Gilfillan." Besides his professional
contributions in pharmacy and chemistry, Dean Gilfillan could speak German,
Russian, French, Italian and Chinook; translate Latin, Greek, Chinese, and
inscriptions on clay tablets; and collected rare books and antique silver.
The Junior Engineers' and Scientists' Summer Institute (JESSI) was a
two-week program for high school students interested in science and engineering
offered at Oregon State University from 1956 through the early 1970s. The
Institute was developed at Oregon State College in conjunction with Scientists
of Tomorrow (located in Portland, Oregon); institutes were offered at colleges
and universities throughout the United States.
Content Description
The F.A. Gilfillan Papers consist of a variety of materials created and
assembled by Gilfillan during his career as a student, college professor and
administrator, and scientist. The bulk of the materials consist of
correspondence received and sent by Gilfillan. The Papers also include notepads
and notebooks documenting meetings of the Oregon State College Executive
Council, Administrative Council, Museum Committee, Faculty Organization
Committee, and School of Science department chairs; speeches; and laboratory
and lecture notes from Oregon Agricultural College and Yale University.
The Papers include substantive materials pertaining to the Junior
Engineers' and Scientists' Summer Institute (JESSI) and the Oregon Academy of
Science. The correspondence includes letters to and from Margaret Bourke-White
dated 1925-1953. Gilfillan met Bourke-White in the early 1920s when he was on
the east coast.
The collection includes photograph albums, scrapbooks, and individual
photographs as well as sound recordings and a motion picture film. Ephemera and
artifacts include certificates, awards, diplomas, Christmas cards, and
pamphlets.