“Once in a while it is good to look back and see just how long is the road we have already traveled.” ~ Dr. Frederick Grohsmeyer (November 5, 1973)

On Saturday, July 21, 2012 IU East lost its first director, Dr. Frederick Grohsmeyer, a man who helped to establish Indiana University East.  Thanks to the memories of those who knew Dr. Grohsmeyer and to records documenting the influential life he led, his memory will not fade.  Fortunately we have some of those records in the Indiana University East Archives.

Indiana University East began as the Eastern Indiana Center located at Earlham College.  Frederick Grohsmeyer was the Director of the Eastern Indiana Center, and in 1969, he began work to help raise the funds for an Indiana University East campus.  Much of the correspondence, photographs, press releases, and publications from this time period have been preserved in the Eastern Indiana Center Collection in the IU East Archives.

As Director of the Eastern Indiana Center, Dr. Grohsmeyer soon saw his dreams come to fruition, and in 1971, he became Director at Indiana University East. Even as the busy Director of a fledgling campus, he never lost his passion for interacting directly with the students. Dr. Grohsmeyer wrote many articles welcoming the students back for each new school year in the early IU East student newspaper, the Pioneer Press, available in the Student Newspapers Collection in the IU East Archives. He was also interviewed by Pioneer Press Co-editor Linda Newman for the second issue of the newspaper. These articles provide insight into the life and interests of a man so passionate about the continued success of Indiana University East.

In the first issue of the Pioneer Press (November 5, 1973), Dr. Grohsmeyer wrote, “Once in a while it is good to look back and see just how long is the road we have already traveled.” Thanks to Dr. Grohsmeyer, we continue on that road to success today, and through us, his legacy will continue.