Allan W. Ostar came to Penn State after infantry service in WWII, graduating in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He helped organize the National Student Association while an undergraduate and headed it for a year after graduation (1950). He subsequently did graduate work in in mass communications and served on the faculty and administration at the University of Wisconsin (1950-1958), the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and many other national education boards and commissions. For seven years (1958-1965), he directed the Joint Office of Institutional Research, which he organized to serve the member institutions of the two national organizations representing state universities and land-grant colleges. He directed the American Association of Colleges and State Universities (AACSU), a Washington, D.C.based organization of about 400 public four-year institutions, from 1965 until his retirement in 1991. He served as an adjunct professor in Penn State's higher education program. Ostar spent his entire professional career working for the advancement of higher education. An outspoken champion of low-tuition public education, Ostar was also an advocate of responsible change on college campus, including curricula reform, the development of career education and the improvement of continuing education programs. He received 26 honorary doctoral degrees. He married his Penn State classmate Roberta Hutchinson.
From the description of Allan W. Ostar papers, 1948-2000. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 369175526
