James Thomas Amsler

James Thomas Amsler grew up in Boston and experienced the benefits of hard work and success early, as he was recognized as a junior Singles Tennis Champion at thirteen. This required discipline, determination, and passion. All of which James Amsler carried along throughout his career. He was a Fitchburg State graduate and a member of the Student Government Association. He received his M.A. from Harvard and his Ph.D. from Boston University, which is evidence of his unwavering ambition and determination. On top of academic excellence, he was a captain of the basketball and soccer teams and played in the minor leagues for the Red Sox. He began his career as a teacher in the public schools of Heading, Massachusetts. He later moved on to the state college system as an associate professor at Salem State in 1956. Throughout his tenure at Salem State, he held the positions of Chair of the Education Department, Director of Student Teaching, Director of Admissions, and Dean of Sudent Affairs. He was also appointed Associate Director of the Massachusetts Division of State Colleges. His next stop was the position of President at North Adams State College. The accomplishments and key changes that came about under his presidency are why his name is intertwined with the school. Some of key accomplishments in this position included providing students a voice on every college voting committee, taking advantage of the twenty-four mobile homes on Ashland Street for the students due to expansion, and growing the size of campus by overseeing the expansion involving the construction of Berkshire Towers, Flagg Townhouses, Freel Library, Eldridge Hall, Bowman Hall, and the Campus center which is now named after him. In an interview with the North Adams Transcript during his first year at North Adams State College, he said, “Too often the curriculum represents vested interests of special groups and has no relation to what is really needed by the students.” He believed required courses should be minimal and more courses should be in the area of the disciplines. He developed the Center for Resourceful Living and constructed it through a foundation that now supports the Environmental Studies major and the Berkshire Environmental Resource Center. By the time James Thomas Amsler’s tenure as president of North Adams State College was over, it was clear that his philosophy focused on the growth and development of education and curriculum through the students he led. Under his influence, NASC developed a more discipline specific curriculum, solved housing issues using the community, and fostered an environment prioritizing efficient and transparent education. All of these accomplishments and efforts created an atmosphere of positive change and innovative learning for North Adams State College to grow and develop into MCLA. A graduating student walks through the campus center on their last day and is about to leave with family. It was a challenging four years, but they have graduated and are now walking toward their next step in life. A familiar feeling of being watched falls over them as they leave the campus center. Turning over their left shoulder as they reach to open the door and go, their eyes rest on a portrait. Only after four years are they familiar with the man in the portrait. A family member asks what it is they are looking at. The graduate smiles as he takes a moment to appreciate the last four years before he begins to describe the man in the portrait as one of the most impactful, innovative, and change-inducing presidents in MCLA history, Dr. James Thomas Amsler.