Monroe Neff

Hall of Fame Class of 1996

Monroe Neff contributed forty-seven years of professional service to the field of adult and continuing education. He organized/directed the first adult/continuing education program in Mississippi and established/directed the North Carolina Department of Community Colleges. He prepared the regulations for the first National Adult Education Act and helped prepare the first statewide federal plans for adult/continuing education. He was the only person to be elected president of a national adult/continuing education organization for two separate terms, served on the first National Adult Education Federal Liaison Committee for the Department of Education, served a 10-year term as Chairman of the National Legislative Committee for Adult/Continuing Education, and helped create the national movement for the Continuing Education Unit.

He established the Community Colleges of Puerto Rico and served as State Director of Adult/Continuing Education for the states of Wyoming, North Carolina, and New York. He established/served as president of the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education. He founded the Houston READ Council and served as first term commissioner of the Houston READ Commission. He is the only person to serve as Chairman, Dean, and Associate Vice Chancellor of Adult/Continuing Education in the Houston Community College System.