Malcolm Knowles

Hall of Fame Class of 1996

Malcolm Knowles is Professor Emeritus of Adult and Community College education at North Carolina State University, where he served from 1974 to 1979. Previously he was Professor of Education at Boston University, 1960-1974, Executive Director, Adult Education Association of the USA, 1951-1959, Executive Secretary, Central YMCA, Chicago, 1946-1951, U.S. Navy, Lt. (jg), 1944-1946, U.S.O. Director, Detroit YMCA, 1943-1944, Director of Adult Education, Huntington Avenue YMCA, Boston, 1940-1943, and Director of Training, National Youth Administration of Massachusetts, 1935-1940. He received his A.B. from Harvard in 1934 and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Adult Education from the University of Chicago in 1949 and 1960 respectively. Since his retirement in 1979, he has been actively engaged in consulting and conducting workshops for educational institutions, business and industry, government agencies, religious institutions, voluntary agencies, and American Society for Training and Development chapters. He has participated in conferences in North America, Europe, South America, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Bangkok. He is author of over 230 articles and 18 books, the most recent being The Modern Practice of Adult Education; The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species; Andragogy in Action; Using Learning Contracts; and The Making of An Adult Educator.