History of Health Education
Health Studies Timeline
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1914 – One of the first 5 faculty members hired at Westhampton College was Fanny Crenshaw.
Ms. Crenshaw, a graduate of Bryn Mawyer, was hired as the Director of Athletics and Physical Education. Dean May Keller hired Ms. Crenshaw to provide the students with the physical rigor necessary to prepare them for their academic studies. Dean Keller said, "The work I’m going to give these girls, they can’t do unless they get some exercise!"
To learn more about the early history of Westhampton College and hear interviews with Fanny Crenshaw, access the Digital Collections here.
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1919 – Dr. Margaret P. Kuyk joined the faculty as a professor of physiology and hygiene.
Dr. Kuyk, a graduate of Pennsylvania Women’s College in Philadelphia, moved to Richmond with her husband, Dr. Dirk Adrian Kuyk of the Hague, to practice medicine. She became the first Professor Emerita of Westhampton College in 1926.
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1926 – Dr. Margaret Nolting joined the faculty as a professor of physiology and hygiene.
Dr. Nolting graduated from the Medical College of Virginia. She was one of the first 2 women in the state of Virginia to earn a medical degree.
During the 1920s, the Department of Physiology, Hygiene and Physical Education offered a series of courses labeled Community Hygiene with individual courses in Nutrition, Sanitation and Public Hygiene, and Mental Hygiene. These courses included labs.
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1934 – The Department of Physical Education and Physiology and Hygiene offered its first BS degree.
The Bachelor of Science was only available to Westhampton College students. Coursework included classes in Anatomy, Physiology, and Kinesiology.
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1943 – Mac Pitt stepped into the role of Athletic Director at Richmond College.
Mac Pitt graduated from Richmond College in 1918 and returned in 1928 as the baseball coach. He served in this role until his retirement in 1967; however, he returned to coach baseball for 4 more years after retiring as Athletic Director.
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1949 – The department was renamed the Department of Health and Physical Education.
In Westhampton College, the Department of Physical Education and Physiology and Hygiene was renamed the Department of Health and Physical Education.
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1951 - Matilda Chalkley became Assistant Professor of Physiology and Hygiene on the D. A. Kuyk Foundation.
Dr. Chalkley received her MD from the University of Louisville. The funding for her position came in part from a generous endowment established by the first professor of hygiene in 1933.
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1950s - Anatomy, Physiology and Personal Hygiene courses were offered to Richmond College students.
With the addition of faculty members Frederick Hardy, Leonard McNeal, and Richard Humbert, Richmond College students had expanded course offerings.
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1960s – Personal and Community Health became a required Freshman course.
In Westhampton College, Personal and Community Health was a required course for all first year students. A course in Survey of Public Health Programs was added.
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1970s – The Richmond and Westhampton College departments combined but maintained separate chairs until 1977.
With the combining of the programs, Bachelor of Science degrees were now available to Richmond College and Westhampton College students in Health and Physical Education.
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1982 – The “non-teaching” endorsement developed 4 tracks of study including Health Science.
Health Science courses included Health Problems, Community Health, Nutrition, Human Anatomy, and a Seminar in Drug Education.
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1990 - The Department of Health and Sports Science offered BA and BS degrees for Health majors.
During the 1990s, there was rapid expansion in the department with new faculty added and course offerings including Eating Behavior and Health, Sport Nutrition, Health Psychology, Health in Sociology, Biomechanics, Pathophysiology: Mechanisms of Disease, and Health Programs.
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2001 - The Department of Health and Sports Science closed.
The debate over the department closing was front page news in The Collegian on October 28, 1998. It sparked several impassioned letters to the editor in following weeks.
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2007 - Drs. Rick Mayes and John Vaughan launched a new minor in Medical Humanities.
Designed primarily for pre-med students to provide them with a social sciences/humanities minor alongside their customary STEM major, the Medical Humanities minor quickly became a popular course of study.
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2012 - A new interdisciplinary major in Healthcare & Society was offered.
The interdisciplinary major, later renamed Healthcare Studies, focused on the legal, business, political, and other aspects of the delivery of healthcare services.
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2021 - UR began offering a Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies.
UR (re)established a Department of Health Studies. The BA in Health Studies is built around a core public health curriculum of health policy, global health, and epidemiology.
