Hoffman Scholarship Enables Humanities Students to Have ‘Positive Impact on Society’
"I want everyone to make a contribution to our culture. That’s what Humanities is all about." Dr. Carl Hoffman
As a member of the faculty, Dr. Carl
Hoffman gave his students the
personal attention they needed and
encouraged them to “make a
contribution to our culture.” Today,
this is called the Arcadia Promise.
Through a new named endowed
scholarship, Dr. Hoffman is giving
more students an opportunity to
make a difference and says he
hopes to “leave something positive
behind.”
Dr. Carl B. Hoffman has the same view he had more than 50 years ago—both literally and figuratively. An Arcadia faculty member from 1948-53 and former Superintendent in Abington School District, he has a longstanding commitment to education. Also, by pure coincidence, his current residence in Jenkintown sits on the same property as his former Arcadia office. "I have the same view," he says of what used to be Beaver College's Jenkintown Campus.
After completing his army service in World War II and returning to his hometown of Reading, Pa., Hoffman began his teaching career in secondary schools. He also began graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a master's degree after two years and, afterwards, joined the faculty of Muhlenberg College. In order to continue his work at the University of Pennsylvania, he sought a position closer to Philadelphia and joined the faculty in Arcadia's History and Government Department.
That same year, Doris Anderson '40 also was hired at Arcadia as an Assistant Professor of Home Economics. Hoffman and Anderson soon met in Dean Ruth Higgins' office, and later became husband and wife.
Hoffman, who later became an Associate Professor, says his favorite part of Arcadia was the camaraderie shared among faculty and students. "Students were eager to talk after class," he says, also noting that "office hours" weren't an issue. If a professor was in his or her office, students were free to come in and chat—a culture of personal attention that still characterizes the Arcadia Promise to students.
The Hoffmans maintained a mutual respect for and interest in Arcadia. They kept in contact with the University and Dr. Hoffman returned to campus as a visiting professor for two summer sessions.
With his many fond memories of the University, Hoffman decided to create a scholarship at Arcadia. Recently established, the Carl B. Hoffman Endowed Scholarship will benefit a student studying any Humanities discipline. "I want everyone to make a contribution to our culture," he says. "That's what Humanities is all about."
A longtime donor to both Arcadia University and Ursinus College (his undergraduate alma mater), Hoffman says, "I want to leave something positive behind." The Carl B. Hoffman Endowed Scholarship is guaranteed to help Humanities students create their own positive impact on society.
