Awards
- National Academies (1931)
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
About Carl Franzén
Carl Gustave Frederick Franzén was born on October 16, 1886 in Worthington, Minnesota to the Reverend S. C. and Mary Florence (Kugler) Franzén. He earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1908, his M.A. in 1912, and his Ph.D. in 1920 both from the University of Iowa. He began his professional career as a high school teacher and served as teacher and principal in high schools of Texas and Connecticut from 1908-1917. He was principal of the State University of Iowa Experimental High School from 1917-1918. He was professor of secondary education at Drake University, 1920-1922 and at Beloit College from 1922-1923. He was appointed associate professor of secondary education at the IU School of Education in 1923 and was promoted to professor in 1927 where he served until 1957. He was active in professional organizations including as chairman of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools from 1928-1957, the National Committee on Coordination of Secondary Education, the Committee on Education of Gifted Children, the National Life Adjustment Conference, and many other organizations associated with improving secondary education.
He was a member of the National Education Association, the American Association of School Administrators, the National Society for the Study of Education, the National Society of College Teachers of Education, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Indiana Association of Junior and Senior High School Principals, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Delta Kappa. Among his publications were: Foundations of Secondary Education, 1955; Improvement Sheets for Improving Teaching of High School Subjects, 1961; a chapter on “Foreign Language” in High School Curriculum, 1956 and 1960; Education in Thailand, 1959; Evaluative Criteria in Indiana, 1954; Indiana Principals Look Ahead, 1952. He served as editor of the Hoosier Schoolmaster from 1958-1961 and also contributed a number of articles to other professional journals in education. Franzén was chosen by the U.S. Department of State as a consultant for the reorganization of secondary schools in Germany in 1948 and was the first professor of the School of Education to serve in the program for the development of teacher education in Thailand under the contract of Indiana University with the Foreign Operations Administration. Franzén also held appointments at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en Provence, Earlham College, and Marycrest College. Franzén died December 11, 1966.