Walter Cocking was an academic administrator and the namesake for the 1941 controversy, the Cocking affair

Cocking affair

The Cocking affair was an attempt in 1941 by Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge to exert direct control over the state's educational system, particularly through the firing of Professor Walter Cocking and the subsequent removal of members of the Georgia Board of Regents who disagreed with the decision...

.

Early life and education

Cocking was born in Iowa, and earned a doctorate from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in New York.

Early career

Cocking initially held academic administrative positions in Iowa, Texas, and Missouri. He then spent five years as professor of school administration at the George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

. From 1933 to 1937, he was the commissioner of education

Commissioner of Education

The Commissioner of Education was the title given to the head of the National Bureau of Education, a former unit within the Department of the Interior in the United States...

 for Tennessee.

University of Georgia

In 1937, Cocking was hired to improve academic standards at University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

's College of Education

University of Georgia College of Education

The University of Georgia College of Education is one of fifteen colleges and schools within the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States....

. While there he developed several reforms but had a "brash and domineering style". In 1941, Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge

Eugene Talmadge

Eugene Talmadge was a Democratic politician who served two terms as the 67th Governor of Georgia from 1933 to 1937, and a third term from 1941 to 1943. Elected to a fourth term in 1946, he died before taking office...

 insisted to the Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

The Georgia Board of Regents oversees the University System of Georgia as part of the state government of Georgia in the United States. The University System of Georgia is composed of all state public institutions of higher education.-History:...

 that Cocking be fired, sparking the Cocking affair

Cocking affair

The Cocking affair was an attempt in 1941 by Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge to exert direct control over the state's educational system, particularly through the firing of Professor Walter Cocking and the subsequent removal of members of the Georgia Board of Regents who disagreed with the decision...

. After initially not rehiring Cocking in an 8-4 vote, University of Georgia president Harmon Caldwell threatened to resign unless Cocking's case was reheard. After hearing evidence, the Georgia Board of Regents rehired cocking in a 7-8 vote; this decision infuriated Talmadge, who proceeded to fire and replace any on the Board of Regents who opposed the governor. At the following Board of Regents meeting, Cocking was again fired, in a 10-5 vote.