Established on 03.16.1987 by Henrietta P. Burgess

Written by Phyllis Burgess Andersland:

Congratulations to recipients of the Dr. Thomas O. and Henrietta P. Burgess Psychology Scholarship! May you be inspired by their story of service to find ways in which you can serve.

Dr. Burgess taught at Concordia for 38 years. He was head of the Psychology and Education departments for much of that time, unofficial college counseling service for students when there was none, nor a campus pastor, and in 1930, first track coach. He was known as the "Father of Hypodontia," using hypnosis in dentistry to alleviate pain for people allergic to existing chemical pain killers or terrified of dentistry. He authored several books, and published journal articles mainly in the field of education, psychology, and psychosomatic dentistry. His teaching and example inspired many to go into clinical or other areas of psychology.

When Dr. Burgess earned a Ph.D. they were unusual. He had programs for students debunking spiritualism. Hypnosis was thought by some to be "the work of the devil" and strongly opposed by a few influential Concordia faculty. He used it in his private clinical practice and developed its use for dentistry. In 1948 he was the first to teach dentists hypodontia. He taught medical doctors, who use hypnosis for painless childbirth as well as for an appendectomy. He lectured widely, led dentists to found a professional organization dedicated to hypodontia, set certification standards, and publish a journal in the field. By 1956 dentists from 26 states and Canada were trained in hypodontia. In 1958 hypnosis was sanctioned by the American Medical Association for medicine and dentistry, and its acceptance in medical field grew.

Dr. Burgess was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, received the Diplomate rating in Clinical Psychology, was a member of the British Society of Medical Hypnotists, and was certified by the psychological associated in Minnesota and North Dakota where he, a Minnesota resident, was their first president. He brought positive national publicity to Concordia and his activities were encouraged and officially recognized by Concordia under President Joseph L. Knutson.

As a clinical psychologist he served Concordia students, pastors, priests, and many others - approaching their counseling from a Christian point of view and using hypnosis when necessary to further treatment. People who weren't helped at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, came to him. He was assisted by his wide, Henrietta Christensen Burgess, whom he had married in 1926 following a four year courtship. A University of Chicago graduate, she was the geologic editor at the Illinois Geological Survey, Urbana, IL, supervising a large staff. She was registrar at Concordia College from 1927-29, reorganizing the registration and record system. She assisted her husband in both his teaching and clinical practice. She annually entertained the top ten students in his introductory psychology classes and proctored make up exams, in their home, as there was no place at Concordia for them. She was noted for her unfailing kindness, self deprecating humor, memory of people and faces, and buoyant personality.

Dad's expertise was used in legal cases. His testimony helped convict a murderer, who wrote him from prison for years, regarding him as a friend. By hypnosis he showed a shooting death was accidental. Through hypnosis he cleared a Concordia student of robbery. He even had short term status as a Texas lawman, bringing back a Concordia connected suicidal felon.

He was no ivory tower professor. World War I ended two days before he was to be commissioned an officer in the army. Considered underweight, he was rejected by the army during World War II after being accepted, he thought, to serve with rank of captain as a psychologist. So during the war he worked one summer as a journeyman marine electrician building tankers in Kaiser Shipyard, Portland, Oregon, and 15 months as a research analyst in a Long Beach, California, shipyard.

There was no Aid to Dependent Children when my father's father was accidentally killed by a train when Dad was 11. Dad essentially supported himself from age 14. As a boy he worked for food and lodging for a seller of clocks and watches, learning to clean and repair them. He worked his way through two years of Wheaton Academy, Wheaton, IL, and four years of Wheaton College. He worked for Wheaton President Blanchard's family and lived in their home. He was a painter, janitor, electrician, waited on tables, served as boarding club commissary, was lab assistant in biology one year and in physics three years, and during Christmas vacation he rode on trains while working for the railroad post office. He received some scholarship aid for tuition. He went out for track and was scoutmaster of a troop which included "Red" Grange of later football fame. After earning a B.S. from Wheaton in 1918 as a chemistry major with minors in physics and mathematics, he worked for 1 1/2 years for Chicago as an assistant chemist in the sanitary department. In November 1919 he and his brother began a trip around the world spending a year and a half in China.

In China Dad served a action principal (1/2 year) and Head of the Science Department (1 1/2 years) at the Shanghai American School, teaching physics, chemistry, general science, and biology to children of missionaries. He was Dean of high school boys, Head of the Athletic Department, coach of boys' and girls' track and field, coach of girls' basketball, and coach of baseball. He was Scout Executive over two troops and scoutmaster of one. He taught a class of 6th and 7th grade boys in Sunday School at Union church, through a translator taught a Bible class to over 30 Chinese boys, and taught the first co-educational Bible class to Chinese. Some week ends he coached field and track for Shanghai Baptist College, taught physics at Beulah Academy, a mission school for Chinese, and has Bible classes for seamen aboard ships. He built the first crystal radio set in the interior of China. His return trip included the Holy Land, for him the highlight of his nearly two years abroad, as well as Norway, his ancestral homeland.

Planning to go back to China after further education, he earned a B.A. at St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, his masters degree at the University of Illinois, and PH.D. at the University of Iowa. By then, China was closed to westerners. Instead of being a missionary in China, he found his mission as a healer in America. The adversity of his childhood and diversity of his experience enabled him to related to people in pain and to accomplish against odds. Always, his greatest love was teaching, and his greatest concern was for his students. In 1983 one wrote, "I think of you often with fondness and appreciation for all you gave to Concordia and to me personally when I was a student there...You have been an important influence on my life. I saw you and your wife as models of Christian commitment." The Burgesses gave generously to Concordia and to this scholarship, which was initiated by Dr. Rose Burgess Buehler, his sister. Through this scholarship it is hoped that their influence will continue. May God be with you in your continued journey through life.

The Thomas O. and Henrietta P. Burgess Psychology Endowed Scholarship is awarded by the Office of Financial Aid. Selection is based on financial need and scholastic achievement.