HIGDON, Barbara Joan (McFARLANE)

MCFARLANE, HIGDON

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 1/1/2016 at 11:31:50

Barbara Joan (McFarlane) Higdon
May 18, 1930 ~ December 30, 2011

Barbara Joan (McFarlane) Higdon was born May 18, 1990, in Independence, Missouri

Babara Higdon was the first woman who served as Graceland's president on a permanent basis, and was the third Higdon to lead the college. She graduated from Graceland in 1949 and married William Higdon in 1950. She continued her education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, obtaining her B. A. in 1951, her M.A. in 1952, and her Ph.D. in 1961.

The Higdons returned to Graceland as faculty members in 1963, and Barbara continued to each language and literature at the college until 1975. After assigning a research paper shortly before Christmas break in 1965, Higdon became the first recipient of the students' annual Ebenezer Scrooge Award.

Higdon served on a committee which created and developed the Experimental Curriculum, providing opportunities for self-motivated students to pursue their own interests and structure their own learning experiences. The program was introduced on Graceland's campus during the 1970-71 school year and Higdon headed the program.

From 1974 to 1984, Higdon worked at Park College as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. On April 16, 1984, she became the first woman to serve as full president at Graceland.

Higdon achieved another first on February 23, 1986, when she and Velma Ruch became the first women to be ordained to the RLDS priesthood on campus.

Innovations at Graceland during Higdon's years as president included the start of student exchanges with Hungary and Bulgaria, the launch of the Chance Program, and the completion of a three-year capital campaign that raised more than $10 million for the college. Higdon also directed the application of a fully funded $3 million Title III federal grant that brought modern computer technology to the campus. Toward the end of her presidency, Higdon helped initiate the Outreach nursing program, organized the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, developed the Center for Christian Leadership, and led efforts to turn around the college's decline in enrollment.

She retired as president emerita on December 31, 1991, and was succeeded by her husband as college president.

President Emerita Higdon then served as the first director of the RLDS Church's Temple Peace Center from 1929 to 1996 and has continued to assis the college in special projects. She received Graceland's Distinguished Service Award in 1995.

As a tribute to the years of Graceland leadership by Barbara, her husband, and her father-in-law, Earl T. Higdon, the campus' first building was renamed the Higdon Administration Building in 1997.

NOTE: Barbara died on December 30, 2011. She was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, Iowa.

SOURCES: Goehner, David. “The Graceland College Book of Knowledge: From A To Z.” Pp. 414-15. Herald House. Independence MO. 1997.

Edwards, Paul M. "The Hilltop Where . . . An Informal History of Graceland College." Venture Foundation. Pp. 134-35. Lamoni, IA. 1972.

Transcription & compilation by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2016

Decatur Biographies maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen