UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #797
KLINEFELTER, DOROTHY J.

KLINEFELTER, Dorothy J. (1940-  )
Undergraduate student, Associate Dean Emeritus of the UW School of Education
At UW:  - 2000

Interviewed: 2006	
Interviewer: Sandy Pfahler
Length: 1.5 hours

Abstract: Childhood and early education in Waukesha, WI.; undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin; academic and social life on campus; accounting work for the Department of Gifts and Grants/Research Administration; Institute for Environmental Studies; Serving as Associate Dean of the School of Education; recreational activities and retirement.

Interview Session (August 11, 2006): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:28	Dorothy Klinefelter was born in October 1940 in Waukesha.  Her father worked in construction.  They moved to Hanford, Washington, where he worked on the secret plutonium plant that was part of the Manhattan Project.  They lived in Milwaukee after the war and then moved back to rural Waukesha.

00:01:42	Grade school and high school in Waukesha.  She graduated in 1958.  She has one brother.  She discusses her childhood on the farm.

00:03:25	She talks about the excellence of her school in Waukesha.  She was a good and serious student.  Her mother had been a teacher before she married.

00:04:50	She talks about her grandparents.

00:05:13	DK was the first in her family to go to 4-year college.  Her mother took 2 years of normal school and her father did not finish high school.

00:06:23	Klinefelter talks about making plans to attend college.  She ranked very high in her class and qualified for a 1-year scholarship.  She was a reader and had a passion for learning.

00:07:32	Her father felt she should be a book keeper and that college was not appropriate because she could earn more money by taking a job. 

00:08:15	She talks about coming to UW and living in the dormitory.  The financial strain on her family.  She worked part time as a secretary to Russell Hasler of the School of Education.

00:11:17	She did well in her first year of college and decided to continue.  She won an additional scholarship for her 2nd year.

00:12:27	She talks about her desire to major in wildlife ecology or forestry.  She was unable to pursue this because she was a woman.  Ultimately she went into Accounting.

00:13:54	Summer jobs doing accounting for a business in Waukesha.

00:14:55	She talks about taking accounting classes with almost no other female students.  Gender discrimination by some professors in the department.

00:16:46	She discusses social life on UW campus in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Her brother also attended UW.

00:18:37	DK graduated in June 1962.  She describes her search for a job in accounting.  Employers told her she was unable to be an auditor because of her gender.

298	Interviewing for a job in the UW business office.  She took a job in Gifts and Grants, which later became Research Administration.  

324	She talks about George Everson and working in the office.

333	She discusses the increase in federal funding for sciences in the early 1960s.
											
340	DK talks about some of the others who worked in the office.  She worked there until 1970. 

363	She talks about the campus protests of the late 60s.  Her office was a focal point because of some funding from military/defense organizations.  The Peterson building sit-in.

406	She begins talking about why she left the Research Administration department.

415	End of Side.

Tape 1/Side 2

003	Klinefelter talks about Reid Bryson and the Institute for Environmental Studies.  Klinefelter took a position at the Institution.  She discusses setting up the organization.

053	She talks about the excitement of learning about science and meeting scientists from around the world.

075	She lists some of the grants and programs in the early years of the Institute.

091	She talks about her opportunity to become Assistant Dean in the School of Education on 1984.

110	Her work on the budget and finances at the School of Education.  

139	She talks about the increasing complexity of budgeting at UW.

163	Changing pay scales and classifications.

178	She discusses her experiences as an administrator working with faculty.

203	She talks about being over-worked in her job.  She outlines some personnel problems she had in the department.

220	DK talks about some of the Deans of the School of Education and the culture of the department during her time there.

246	She discusses the School of Education’s consistent ranking as one of the nation’s best programs.  The Wisconsin Center for Education Research.  Tension with the Department of Public Instruction.

267	She talks about the School’s relationship with campus administrators.  It was “always hard.” She feels that people at her level of administration have a difficult job because they have to satisfy constituents above and below them.

307	She talks about committee work.  Computerization of personnel and payroll systems.

338	Klinefelter talks about the climate for women on the UW campus.  She was hired by a person actively seeking female employees.  She relates some experiences with male chauvinism.  She feels she was probably passed over for the Director’s position in Research Administration because of her gender.

384	She talks about professional organizations.  The National Council of University Research Administrators.  Professionalization of the field.

415	End of Side.  End of Tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

002	Klinefelter continues talking about her experiences at professional conferences.  She enjoyed the opportunity to meet other people doing similar work.

055	DK talks about awards and honors she earned during her career.  

099	She talks about feeling valued in her work.

107	DK discusses her life after retirement and some recreational activities.  Visiting her parents.  Friends.  Skiing and hiking.  Reading.

152	She talks about traveling and UW Alumni trips.  The Northwest.  Africa.  British Columbia.

186	Birding.

197	She still owns 64 acres that belonged to her parents.

213	She discusses how much she has loved Madison and the UW.  Her enjoyment of her retirement years.

240	She talks about what she misses since her retirement.

279	End of Side.  End of Tape.  End of Interview.

END