John Kallam graduated with a BA in criminology and entered
the U.S. Army. He served for 20 years beginning in the late 1930's.
He was an investigator during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war
criminals, and stayed in Germany for many years organizing civilian
police forces in the post-war era. He also wrote numerous books
on criminal justice. He retired from military service in the late
1950s at the rank of full colonel.
Returning to Fresno, California, he began teaching
criminology at what was then Fresno State College. (Later to
become the California State University, Fresno.) His work was
well respected, but after about ten years of service, he was
called to see the president of the college.
He was informed that he could no longer teach
with just a bachelor's degree. Times were changing, he was told,
and the school demanded that faculty members hold a graduate
degree. Merely having 20 years of distinguished experience was
no longer considered sufficient qualification to teach. All
new faculty were being required to hold a doctorate, it was
explained, and the school was actually doing him a favor by
letting him keep his job by getting "only" a master's degree.
So John enrolled in a summer program at an
out-of-state college. Three months of intensive seminars and
then nine months of home study would get him his MA.
On the first day of class, the instructor was
taking roll. He stopped when he read John's name. "Are you related
to the John Kallam who wrote the textbook we'll be using?" he
asked.
"I am the John Kallam who wrote the textbook
you're using," came the dry response.
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