Dr. Harold F. Alderfer was born in 1906 and was raised in Souderton, Pennsylvania. He received his bachelor of arts degree in 1922 from Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio, and his master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from Syracuse University. He held the honorary doctor of laws degree from Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa. He joined the political science faculty at Penn State in 1928 and in 1936 was instrumental in organizing the Institute of Local Government, a department in the College of the Liberal Arts, designed to enable the University to assist officials of the more than 5,000 local government units in the Pennsylvania. In 1950, Dr. Alderfer went to Greece as a local civil government specialist for the Mutual Security Agency. The municipal code he helped to develop was enacted by the Greek parliament and the Greek government later decorated Dr. Alderfer for his services. He served from 1954 to 1956 as head of the Department of Political Science. Dr. Alderfer retired in as Professor Emeritus of Political Science in March, 1959.
From the description of Harold F. Alderfer papers, 1951-1952. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 608532202
