Quick Facts
Biography
Clarence Addison Dykstra (February 25, 1883 - May 6, 1950) was a U.S. administrator. He served as the first City Manager in the US in Cincinnati, Ohio after teaching government at the University of Chicago. He then became Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin (1937–45) as well as director of the Selective Service System between 1940 and 1941. He then became Provost of UCLA from 1945-1950.
He also served as the Efficiency Director of the City's Department of Water and Power for Los Angeles before World War II. He argued that the city needed to be further decentralized by expanding highways and creating suburban communities.
During World War II, he was appointed by President Roosevelt to chair an 11-member Defense Mediation Board, in an effort to settle wartime labor disputes.
He was also the Director of the Selective Service System.
Clarence Dykstra was also the first to advocate student housing at UCLA. Dykstra Hall, which opened in 1959, was the first structure in UCLA's current undergraduate residential community. It was also the first co-ed residence hall in the country.