Dr. Robert M. Reese served on the faculty in the College of Education at OSU from 1946 to 1974. Originally from Madison County, Ohio, he received a bachelor’s degree in education in 1933 from OSU, a master’s degree from Purdue University in 1945, and the Ph.D. from OSU in 1954 (Ohio State University News Services, 1974).
Dr. Reese began his career switching between teaching and industrial positions, primarily in the central Ohio area. He taught machine trades in Newark, Ohio for the 1935-36 school year before taking a position as an engineer with Owens Corning, also in Newark, from 1936-38. Reese returned to education in 1939, serving full-time as director of vocational education in Connersville, Indiana until 1942. He then served as a supervisor for the state department of education in Indiana from 1942-45. He took a similar position in Ohio in 1945, returning to the buckeye state as state supervisor for the Trade and Industrial Education service in the Ohio Department of Education, a position he held until 1954.
Upon his arrival at OSU in 1946 as a part-time faculty member, he served as an instructor for summer teaching in vocational workshops and institutes. In that same year, he founded the Ohio Trade and Industrial Education Instructional Materials Laboratory at the university (Strong, 1958). Upon receipt of his doctorate degree in 1954, he was appointed associate professor and left his position at the Ohio Department of Education. He was later given full professor status in 1957. Dr. Reese served as department chairman of vocational-technical education from 1968 until his retirement in 1974 (Johnston, 1971).
Reese was very involved with the activities of the American Vocational Association (AVA). He served as vice-president for the trade and industry division from 1952-55 and again from 1965-66. He served two terms on the AVA national advisory council, and served as chairman of the national membership committee from 1965-68. In 1966 he received the AVA’s Outstanding Service Award (Ohio State University News Services, 1973).
Dr. Reese served as president of both the National Association of State Supervisors of Trade and Industrial Education (in 1949) and of the National Association of Industrial Teacher educators (in 1960). He also was a founding member of the Administrative Board of the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (now SkillsUSA), a vocational student organization for youth enrolled in trade and industrial education programs (Ohio State University News Services, 1973). Reese was awarded emeritus status in May of 1974 (Ohio State University News Services, 1974).