Wells, Herman B.

Before becoming president of Indiana University, Herman B Wells served as an assistant cashier at the National Bank of Lebanon before going on to work for the Indiana Bankers Association, the Indiana Commission for Financial Institutions, and the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions. He was named dean of the Indiana University School of Business administration in 1935 by IU President William Lowe Bryan. In 1937 he was named acting president of the university and president the following year, a position he held until 1962. Upon his retirement, IU created the position of University Chancellor, which Dr. Wells held until his death in 2000.

Please see the biography by James Capshew at http://www.indiana.edu/~ilbarch/Wells/wellsbio.html.

A native of Jamestown, Ind., Wells attended Indiana University and remained affiliated with the school until he retired. He was dean of the School of Business Administration, president for 25 years, then chancellor. He is considered an authority on business administration and economics.

Indiana University alumnus, president, and chancellor.

Late in 1947, in the midst of his Indiana University presidency, Wells took a six month leave of absence to serve as Director of the Education and Cultural Relations Division of the Office of Military Government for Germany, U.S. (OMGUS). During this time he also served as General Lucius D. Clay's cultural affairs advisor.

In early 1947, Indiana University President Herman B Wells was approached by a representative of the Unites States Military Government in Germany (OMGUS) to head the new Education and Cultural Affairs Division of the Occupation in Germany as well as serve as General Clay’s cultural affairs advisor. At the time Indiana University was in the midst of coping with post-war problems, such as a yearly increase in the influx of students, and neither the Board of Trustees nor the Governor of Indiana were favorably disposed to Wells taking the year-long leave requested by the Government. In the end, the prestige of the post, both for Wells and the University, and Wells’ suitability to the mission convinced the trustees and the governor to grant him a six month leave of absence.

President Wells arrived in Berlin on November 21, 1947 to a city still in ruins. He immediately began questioning the existing staff about the problems that needed to be solved. From that questioning, and the wishes of General Clay, four primary challenges and objectives emerged: 1. To assemble cultural activities in a single division under a unified policy and administration; 2. To create an agency in the U.S. to serve as a liaison between the American people and the Education and Cultural Relations Division (ECRD); 3. To stimulate military-government divisions to enter reorientation work; and 4. To recruit qualified personnel for the ECRD in Germany and in stateside organizations.

During his six month stay, Wells worked closely with both German and American education experts to restructure the German education system along more democratic lines while respecting German traditions. Here, as with everything he did, Wells used his abilities as a communicator to facilitate communication between the Americans and the Germans, and the educators and the military. Among Wells’ many accomplishments during his six months in Germany were the rapid improvement and expansion of the exchange program and the establishment of the Free University of Berlin.