Journal of Case Studies in Education
Dissertation Leadership Knowledge Transfer, Page 1
Dissertation leadership knowledge transfer using sparsely connected
networks with bidirectional edges: case study of Chester Hayden
McCall Jr., his dissertation advisors, and his students
Leo A. Mallette
Pepperdine University
Abstract
There are many modes of information flow in the sciences: books, journals, conferences,
research and development, acquisition of companies, co-workers, students, and professors in
schools of higher learning. In the sciences, dissertation students learn from their dissertation
advisor (or chairperson or mentor) and the other dissertation committee members and vice-versa;
the committee members learn from the student. The students learn technical knowledge and
discipline from their advisors. They learn to be researchers so they can be leaders of projects,
industry, and academia, but do they learn how to discipline another generation of doctoral
students? This paper is focused on the academic networking of dissertation students and their
advisor(s); using the author’s dissertation advisor, Chester Hayden McCall Jr., as an example.
This paper asks the question: How is specific dissertation leadership knowledge being
transferred? And continues with a discussion of network science and suggests four possible
answers.
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Dissertation Leadership Knowledge Transfer, Page 2
Introduction
The doctoral degree has been in existence for more than eight centuries (Noble, 1994).
The name doctor was interchangeable with professor and teacher, and has conferred the ability to
teach upon its recipients since a papal bull of 1292 (ius ubique docendi), delivered by Pope
Nicholas IV (Noble, 1994; Radford, 2001). The doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree was used in
Europe since the early 19
th
century and was also abbreviated D.Phil. It was first awarded in the
US by Yale University in 1861 (Noble, 1994; Radford, 2001; Baez, 2002). The first awarded
Ph.D. in education was awarded in 1893 at Teachers College, Columbia University (Brown,
1990; Mason, 1998). Although Eells (1963) claims that it was given by Clark University in 1892
(Mallette, 2010). Through a series of databases (such as the Mathematics Genealogy Project
(Math, 2011), and conversations, this paper attempts to document the formal education path
where various mathematicians in history have been linked by their doctoral studies.
Leadership Question
Dissertation students learn from their dissertation advisor; they learn to be researchers so
they can be leaders of projects, industry, and academia, but do they learn how to discipline
another generation of doctoral students? Many student become dissertation advisors; and that
skill was not learned in a How to be a Dissertation Advisor class. Similarly, there is no How to
be a University professor
class. Yet many doctoral students become teachers and produce
doctoral students of their own. This paper will not answer the question: How is specific
leadership knowledge being transferred?
completely, but will suggests four possible answers:
learning by 1) procedure, 2) instruction, 3) committee, and 4) doing.
Example for This Paper
‘Chet’ McCall was the author’s dissertation advisor (Mallette, 2006). Chet passed away
in 2011 and the author became reflective about his and Chet’s educational genealogy. This
article was written, in-part, to share Chet’s dissertation advisor genealogy with his 107
dissertation students. Chet’s dissertation advisor (Frank Weida), and Frank’s dissertation advisor
(Henry Rietz), and Henry’s dissertation advisor (George Miller) are listed in Figure 1.
This is not a complete study; there may be some errors or the information may be
incomplete. Each ‘generation’ of advisors is discussed in chronological order below, providing a
short biography, their education, research and teaching history, and their own dissertation
students.
George Abram Miller
George Abram Miller (1863-1951) was born near Lynville, Pennsylvania and married
Cassandra Boggs in 1909. She died in 1949 and they had no children (Brahana, 1957).
Education
Miller received his B.A. (with honorable mention) and M.A. from Muhlenberg College in
Allentown Pennsylvania in 1887 and 1890 respectively, and his Ph.D. from Cumberland
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Dissertation Leadership Knowledge Transfer, Page 3
University in Lebanon Tennessee in 1892. He also received the D.Litt. (honorary Doctor of
Letters) degree from Muhlenberg College in 1936 (Brahana, 1957).
Figure. 1. Dissertation Advisor Genealogy of Chester Hayden McCall Jr.
Interestingly, Miller “was registered as a graduate student at Cumberland [University] …
but graduate work could be taken by correspondence…. A thesis was a requirement for the
degree, but examinations in the advance courses could be substituted for the thesis” (Brahana,
1957, p. 259) and Miller’s Ph.D. “did not require an original thesis” (Personal Communication,
Amber Woodard at Cumberland University Library, December 05, 2011). Therefore, Miller had
no dissertation and no advisor. However, many would draw a dotted line to Frank Cole as his
advisor; due to a strong connection in Miller’s intellectual heritage. Immediately after receiving
his Ph.D., Miller was an Instructor at the University of Michigan from 1893 to 1895. Brahana
(1957), Gap (2011), and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA, 2011a) state that
Miller lived in the home of, and was influenced by, Frank Cole. Miller became fascinated with
the mathematical theory of groups and his association with Frank Cole significantly influenced
the remainder of his career – hence the dotted line from Cole to Miller. Cole’s own advisor
genealogy (Appendix A) traces back through very famous mathematicians such as Klein,
Lipschitz, Poisson, Fourier, LaGrange, Laplace and Euler (Math, 2011).
Research and Teaching
Miller was a professor of mathematics at Eureka College (1888-1893) while studying for
his Ph.D., and became an Instructor at the University of Michigan (1893-1895), attended lectures
by Sophus Lie and Camille Jordan in Europe (1895-1897), was an assistant professor at Cornell
University (1897-1901), assistant and associate professor at Stanford University (1901-1906),
associate professor and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1906-1931).
He became professor emeritus in 1931 and continued coming to his university office until 1950.
He continued publishing until 1947 when, at the age of 84, his hand could not write legibly
(Brahana, 1957). He wrote or co-wrote four books including Determinants, Historical
George Abram Miller, Ph.D.
Cumberland University, 1892
Henry Lewis Rietz, Ph.D.
Cornell University, 1902
Frank Mark Weida, Ph.D.
University of Iowa, 1923
Chester Hayden McCall Jr., Ph.D.
George Washington University, 1957
Leo Albert Mallette, Ed.D.
Pepperdine University, 2006
Plus about 106 other doctoral graduates