Kate Galt Zaneis

Kate Galt Zaneis (February 17, 1887 - September 9, 1973) was an American educator. In May 1935, she became president of Southeastern Oklahoma State Teachers College, becoming the first woman to lead a state college or university in the United States.

Born Kathrine Benton Galt in Spring Place, Georgia, Zaneis was the fourth of eight children, four sons and four daughters, of James Edward and Miriam Otis Galt. The family lived in Ardmore, Oklahoma, but would return to Georgia for Miriam to give birth; not long thereafter, they returned westward. Kate graduated from high school in Ardmore in 1907; she was immediately hired by school superintendent Charles Evans to teach. In 1913 she married H. P Zaneis, moving with him to Wirt, Oklahoma; two years later, divorced, she returned to Ardmore to serve as principal of Lincoln Ward School. In 1915 she became superintendent of Lone Grove High School, at the same time joining the summer teaching faculty at Southeastern Oklahoma State Teachers College. In 1920, working towards a bachelor's degree at the same institution, she was elected superintendent of schools in Carter County, pledging to consolidate rural schools. She also worked to improve the condition of schools for black children in the county.

Zaneis supported E. W. Marland in his campaign for governor, serving as his campaign director for Carter County. She was rewarded after his election with a position on the Oklahoma State Board of Education; among her achievements on that body was approval of sabbatical leaves for college faculty. On the cusp of receiving her master's degree from Oklahoma A&M, she was named president of Southeastern Oklahoma State Teachers College by Governor Marland, effective May 20, 1935. Her tenure in the role was short and not without controversy, beginning when she appointed her favorite instructor, Dr. Everett Fixley, as dean, and continuing with the firing of faculty members without master's degrees. Furthermore, the salaries of the higher-paid men on staff were cut to adjust the pay scale of female faculty members, causing problems with townspeople. Successes included the securing of Public Works Administration funds to improve buildings and athletic fields on campus; mandatory political donations from faculty were ended, enrollment increased by 30%, and student work programs were funded. Furthermore, she secured a speaking appearance by Eleanor Roosevelt. But public sentiment in Oklahoma was turning against the New Deal, and with the men of the faculty upset the State Board of Education fired Zaneis from her post in May 1937. No clear reason was ever given, but it was widely said, including by prominent and influential local figures such as Claude C. Hatchett, that she had been removed because of her gender. Another woman would not be named to the school's presidency until Joe Anna Hibbler took the position in 1991.

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