1940 – 1948: A Professor at Cal Poly

Arrived in 1940

Kennedy arrived at Cal Poly in 1940, when the "California Polytechnic School" had a student body of about 700 men. He was hired as the head of the Journalism Department and public relations.

Many responsibilities

Along with many other responsibilities, he was

  • advisor to student publications, including the El Mustang;
  • professor of English composition and speech, journalism and photography;
  • in charge of college publicity;
  • and editor of the college catalog and official publications.

World War II

During World War II, when Cal Poly became Naval Flight Preparatory School and Naval Academic Refresher Unit (1943-46), Kennedy taught communications.

cartoon about how hard students worked for Dr. Kennedy

All photos courtesy of University Archives, Cal Poly.

Next: Moving Up

1949 to 1967: Director, dean, assistant to the president, vice-president and contributing to a new Cal Poly campus in Pomona.
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A 1942 El Rodeo Cal Poly Yearbook description of Kennedy: "Short… dark hair… nice smile… walks and talks the same… eats, sleeps, and talks journalism… a camera is his constant companion… thorough… well liked."