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Richert, Marlys (1913-1992)
Actively involved in home economics extension for over forty years, Marlys Richert believed that extension should serve a variety of social needs. After receiving her BS in Home Economics (1935) from Stout State College (now UW-Stout), Richert taught high school home economics for two years and then served as a country extension agent in Green County, moving to Waukesha County in 1953 where she served as an extension agent and later District Home Economics program leader. She earned an MS in Extension Education (1957) and a Ph.D in Extension Education Administration (1961) from UW-Madison, and was then appointed associate professor in Home Economics Education and Extension and a member of the National Agricultural Extension Center for Advanced Study. Beginning in 1963, Richert served as Assistant Director (State Leader) of the Wisconsin Extension Service, a position in which she was responsible for all of Wisconsin's extension programs and activities. She recognized that people's needs varied depending on their living situations, remarking that a different audience "changes the program content or level of subject matter and the methods of reaching these people." Rural families had different needs than city families, and people on extremely low budgets or on welfare needed specific guidance on cooking economic, yet nutritious meals. Accordingly, Richert developed extension programs that addressed the different groups she saw as wanting or needing help and advice. One such expanding field for extension workers in the 1960s was educating and training professionals. In workshops, extension agents educated caseworkers about important issues like nutrition and money management, and the case workers then used the information to help the families with whom they worked closely. Richert recognized the rapidly changing and diverse needs of those around her and consequently molded home economics and extension to satisfy those social demands. When she retired in 1977, she left both UW and the state of Wisconsin with a broad-based and effective home economics extension system. |
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