Psychology Department
The psychology department's silver anniversary in 1953
While Herr was Head of the Psychology Department, he developed the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, and substantially increased the student and staff numbers. The first Ph.D. in Psychology was awarded in 1946. By 1953, eleven Ph.D.s had been completed and approximately 90 graduate students were enrolled in the department. By the time Herr stepped down as chair, the department had grown enormously. There were 3,200 students in 91 sections of psychology, with 550 undergraduate majors, 22 full time Ph.D. students, and 22 full-time and 22 part-time faculty members.
In recounting the history of the department, former student and colleague Dr. Leroy A. Wauck gave this estimation of Herr's character: "My personal view is that Fr. Herr did not have the temperament of an administrator, did a good job out of a spirit of Jesuit obedience, but would have been happier tinkering in his lab, studying the idiosyncrasies and vagaries of human behavior." The Story of Psychology at Loyola 1929-1979 by Leroy A. Wauck.