WOU Repository

Edwin DeVore Ressler was born November 2, 1869 in Westerville, Ohio, and was educated at Otterbein and Ohio State Universities. He was superintendent of several schools in Ohio before taking the job of Superintendent of Schools in Eugene, Oregon. While in Eugene, Ressler organized the first high school in the Eugene public school system and taught at the University of Oregon for a year, before joining the faculty of Oregon State Normal School (OSNS) in 1901.

In 1902, the first year of Ressler's presidency at OSNS, a fire broke out on the roof of Campbell Hall, but a bucket brigade of students and citizens put the fire out before it spread too far. In 1907, the state legislature ended funding for normal schools in Oregon. Ressler worked without payment during the last two years of his tenure in order to keep the school running. The school closed in 1909 and Ressler left Monmouth to become Dean of the Oregon Agriculture College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis. At the same time, Ressler also served as Executive Secretary of the Oregon State Teachers Association. Ressler died October 18, 1926 in Seattle, Washington, where he is also buried.