Archives West Finding Aid

Charles H. Monson Jr. was born in Salt Lake City to Charles Horald and Ortencia Merrill Monson on 13 May 1924. He married Vivian Turley in October 1947 and received his bachelor's degree the following year from the University of Utah. His master's degree was obtained a year after that, also from the University of Utah. His doctoral work, however, took him to New York and Cornell University. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1952.

It took Monson several years and a couple of teaching positions before returning with his family to Utah. He was an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Nevada from 1952 to 1956 and then held the same title at Chico State College in California from 1956 to 1958. He was awarded an associate professor of philosophy position from the University of Utah in 1958, which he accepted. Monson held that position for two years until he was made an administrative intern for the American Council of Education. This took him away from Utah for a year and back to Cornell University. He returned to the University of Utah in 1966 as the deputy academic vice president. Monson remained at the university from that point on.

Throughout the time Monson held administrative positions at the University of Utah, which lasted from 1966 until his death in 1974, he remained cognizant of the student body's needs by serving as a professor on top of his administrative duties. Most of the classes he taught were in philosophy and he received wide recognition for his dedication to teaching and higher education in general. He was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1970 for his outstanding teaching abilities. The numerous articles and papers he wrote were also widely distributed and his knowledge of teaching and education was often called upon, as seen by his involvement with various groups and committees. Monson was involved with the Association of California State College Instructors, the Mountain-Plains Philosophical Conference, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the United States Office of Education, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

As an administrator, Monson was able to initiate many major programs at the University of Utah. Some of these included programs for improving the status and effectiveness of teaching assistants, programs for disadvantaged students (including minority groups), and programs for women. He also established departmental advisory committees, departmental chairman leadership programs, and helped maintain the Repertory Dance Theatre, a modern dance company on campus.

Charles H. Monson Jr. died on 23 October 1974 in Salt Lake City as a result of a massive pulmonary embolism.

Biographical note provided by Lisa DeMille copyright 2003.