Jerry L. Hargis, Georgia Center director for educational programs
We learn with regret of the passing of Cyril O. Houle. For those of us who began the profession of adult and continuing education about the time it moved into the modern age, there is no more respected name than Cyril O. Houle. He was a researcher, writer, teacher, mentor, practitioner, counselor, speaker, programmer, and most of all, a philosophical leader for the field.
In his 1980 book Continuing Learning in the Professions, Cy noted in the "Preface," "Therefore I have defined three modes of learning -- inquiry, instruction, and performance -- and have shown how they can be employed both separately and interactively." He did this not only in the book to which he referred, he did it in life.
In the sixties, the three-week Seminar for Continuing Education Administrators that he led at the University of Chicago was the most intensive professional "boot camp" for those in continuing education you could imagine. It attracted as resource faculty the most recognized names in the profession. All who came, even the other faculty, listened to and learned from Cy Houle. His ability to thoughtfully analyze and describe complex situations was legend. Just as appreciated was his gentle, humane, urbane manner; he was always the gentleman, always considerate of every individual, and always openly generous with his time and concern.
The volume and quality of his work -- as a writer, a speaker, a practitioner, a teacher, a counselor -- have earned him a foremost position in the profession that will long be in his debt. In the U.S. West, there is a saying that "we all drink from wells others have dug." Cy Houle has left rich wellsprings of knowledge and challenge that can provide us refreshing insight and direction for years to come.
Grover J. Andrews, Georgia Center interim director and UGA assistant vice president for public service and outreach
I first met Cy Houle through his writings in l965 when I became assistant academic dean at Little Rock University. As such, I was assigned "continuing education" as one of my duties! I knew nothing about the field or practice and sought help through whatever literature I could find in the library. This search led me to a little book, The Inquiring Mind, published in l961 by Cyril O. Houle, a professor at the University of Chicago. This book opened the doors to a new field and a new career for me in adult and continuing education ... and a new, lifelong friend and mentor. I am sure that there are hundreds of us in this field who owe our professional being and our personal accomplishments to Cy Houle. He was truly a scholar of this century in education, and he was forever a gentleman.
Web administrator: webmaster@gactr.uga.edu All contents copyright © 1998 University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. All rights reserved. Last revised: August 13, 1998 URL: http://www.gactr.uga.edu/GCQ/gcqspr98/ibt.html