George N. Shuster
George Nauman Shuster (27 August 1894 – 25 January 1977) was an American philologist, civil servant and educator.
Biography
George N. Shuster was born in Lancaster, Wisconsin, the son of Anthony Shuster, a German emigrants from Saarland and Elizabeth (née Nauman). After attending school, he studied philosophy and literature and new languages. He earned a first degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1915. During World War I, Shuster deployed with the U.S. Army in Europe.
Upon his return from the war, Shuster earned a master's degree in English from the university. At the same institution, he then served as head of the English Department from 1920 to 1924. He then worked as an instructor of English at St. Joseph's College for Women in Brooklyn from 1924 to 1935. In addition, he served as editor for the New York Catholic magazine Commonweal. In 1937, he withdrew from the staff of the latter because of the supportive attitude of the editorial board toward the Francoists in Spain.
In 1932, Shuster made his first study trip to Germany. On this occasion he learned the German language, which he soon mastered at the level of a native speaker. A second trip to Germany followed in 1937. On this occasion, among other things, he had the opportunity to observe the state visit of the Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini in Munich.
In 1940, Shuster completed his doctorate at Columbia University. He then became president of Hunter College in New York. He retained this position — interrupted by extended leaves of absence to perform other duties — until 1960. After the American entry into World War II, Shuster, who was considered a prominent Catholic and expert on Germany and was a personal friend of former German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning, among others, served as a State Department advisor on cultural matters with regard to the German Empire. As an educator, he was involved in the preparation of the Reeducation Program, among other things.
In the early postwar period, Shuster was entrusted by the U.S. Army as an interrogation officer with the interrogation of high-ranking prisoners of war because of his good knowledge of the German language. In July 1945, for example, he interrogated former Empire Chancellor Franz von Papen at Camp Ashcan in Bad Mondorf.
From July 1950 to December 1951, Shuster served as state commissioner of the American Occupation Administration for Bavaria. In 1950, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was a United States delegate to the United Nations Conference on International Education (1945) and thus helped create UNESCO.
In 1961, Shuster returned to the University of Notre Dame, where he assumed the position of assistant to University President Theodore Hesburgh. He remained in this position until his death.
Shuster published nearly twenty books and close to three hundred journal articles, focusing on education, world politics, and religion. He was chairman of a group of 37 scholars who conducted the first population-control research done under Catholic guidance. The group gave qualified endorsement to the use of contraceptives and suggested a change in the church's traditional position on the subject.
He died in South Bend, Indiana.
Private life
On June 25, 1924 he married Doris Parks Cunningham.
See also
- Land O'Lakes Statement minimizing the role of the Catholic Church in Catholic universities.
Works
- Catholic Spirit in Modern English Literature (1922)
- English Literature: a Textbook (1926)
- Catholic Church in America (1927)
- Catholic Church in Current Literature (1930)
- Germans: An Inquiry and an Estimate (1932)
- Strong Man Rules (1934)
- Like a Mighty Army: Hitler versus Established Religion (1935)
- The World's Great Catholic Literature (1942; rev. ed. 1964; editor)
- Germany, a Short History (1944; with Arnold Bergstraesser)
- Modern Education and Human Values (1948; with Edward Weeks and Reinhold Niebuhr)
- Cultural Co-operation and the Peace (1953)
- Religion behind the Iron Curtain (1954)
- In Silence I Speak (1956; with Tibor Horanyi)
- Education and Moral Wisdom (1960)
- The Ground I Walked on: Reflections of a College President (1961)
- Freedom and Authority in the West (1967; editor)
- Evolution in Perspective: Commentaries in Honor of Pierre Lecomte du Noüy (1968; with Ralph E. Thorson; editor)
- Catholic Education in a Changing World (1967; editor)
References
- Blantz, Thomas E. (1993). George N. Shuster: On the Side of Truth. Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame Press.
- Lannie, Vincent P. (1974). On the Side of Truth: George N. Shuster: An Evaluation with Readings. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
External links
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- 1894 births
- 1977 deaths
- 20th-century American male writers
- Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Laetare Medal recipients
- People from Lancaster, Wisconsin
- United States Army personnel of World War I
- University of Notre Dame alumni
- University of Notre Dame faculty
