Awards

Chancellor and Provost Medallion - 1995

IU East Chancellor's Medallion

Richmond, Indiana

Presenter: David Fulton

About Frederick Grohsmeyer

Frederick A. Grohsmeyer was Indiana University-East’s first director from 1971-1975. A native of Canton, Ohio, Grohsmeyer attended Kent State University before joining the U.S. Air Force during World War II. While a cadet, he attended Hamilton College in New York for courses in meteorology.

Grohsmeyer went on to attend DePauw University and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. He received his master’s degree in psychology from Northwestern University and his Ph.D. from Purdue University. Grohsmeyer first joined the faculty at Earlham College in 1949 as an assistant professor of psychology. He left the college to work as a psychologist for Rohrer, Hibler, & Replogle in Minneapolis and then Booz, Allen & Hamilton in Chicago. He returned to Richmond in 1958 to work as the executive director of the Earlham Institute for Executive Growth and was an associate professor of psychology. He was later the consultant and lecturer for the Earlham Institute for Executive Growth from 1964-1973.

While at Earlham College, Grohsmeyer was also the chairman of the Social Science Division and later held the rank as a professor of psychology. In 1969, Grohsmeyer was the dean of the General Studies Division and the director of the Eastern Indiana Center of Earlham College.

Grohsmeyer, along with Earlham College President Landrum Bolling and a group of community leaders, proposed to the Indiana University Board of Trustees the idea of a regional campus in Richmond. By October 1970, Indiana University took administrative control and started development of the new campus. Grohsmeyer was director when the IU Board of Trustees established IU East as a regional campus on July 1, 1971. He and Sally worked with local community and government leaders to raise funds to purchase the 225 acres where IU East is now situated and for its first building, Whitewater Hall.

While at IU East, Grohsmeyer was a professor of psychology from 1971 to 1991. He was the acting chair of Behavioral and Social Sciences from 1982-1983 and the chair from 1987-1989. When Grohsmeyer retired as director in 1975, he remained at IU East as a professor of psychology until 1991 and received the title of emeritus professor in 1992.

Grohsmeyer was a past board member of the Richmond Symphony, Richmond Rotary, We Americans, Inc., Eastern Indiana Community College, Inc., Yokefellow Institute, Wayne County Multiple Sclerosis Association, and the Mental Health Association. He was a member of the American Psychological Association, Indiana Psychological Association, International Association for the Advancement of Science, Society of Sigma XI, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution.