Earl V. Pullias was an advocate of postsecondary and adult education and professor emeritus of higher education at the University of Southern California. He was a teacher, administrator, and consultant.
A graduate of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn., Pullias earned an MA from the University of Chicago, then a PhD from Duke University. After initial work as a psychologist, he became a professor at Pepperdine College, and shortly after, was appointed dean of faculty. In 1957, he came to the University of Southern California to establish the Department of Higher and Postsecondary Education. He retired from USC in 1977.
Pullias was a prolific writer, with efforts directed towards the philosophical issues in higher learning. He published more than 100 research and theoretical articles and reviews. His book A Teacher is Many Things (1968), co-authored with James D. Young, received international recognition and has been translated into nine languages, including Burmese, Arabic and Lao. Other works include Towards Excellence in College Teaching (co-authored with Aileene Lockhart), A Search for Understanding, and his last work, A Common Sense Philosophy for Modern Man: A Search for Fundamentals.
The Pullias Lecture, established in 1978 and dedicated to the memory of Earl V. Pullias, brings a nationally recognized scholar to the USC campus to participate in an ongoing academic dialogue on significant topics in higher and postsecondary education.
