Thyrsa Amos

Thyrsa Wealtheow Amos (1879 – May 5, 1941) was an American academic and a college honor society founder. She was the dean of women and professor of education at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1919 to 1941. She was the founder of the Society of Cwens and a president of the National Association of Deans of Women (NADW). Her main area of interest was in student personnel, especially for women.

Early life and education Amos was born in Frankfort, Indiana in 1879. Her parents were Agnes (née Grove) and Joseph Bonaparte Amos. Her family moved to Shawnee, Oklahoma, becoming founders of the community.

Amos attended the Fairmont College in Wichita, Kansas, graduating in 1903. She was also a member of Mortar Board. Her main area of interest was in student personnel, especially for women.

She visited Howard University during the 1924–25 school year to attend meetings and give talks to the female students.

Career After graduating from Fairmont College, Amos was a teacher in Kansas and, later, principal of Spivey School in Kingman County, Kansas.

Starting in 1917, she was a faculty member and dean of girls at Shawnee High School in Shawnee, Oklahoma. During the summer sessions of 1917 to 1919, Amos was the social director and taught psychology at the University of Kansas.

Amos became the first Dean of Women at the University of Pittsburgh, serving from the fall of 1919 until she died in 1941.

Society of Cwens

Amos was an important influence in making mentoring, instead of hazing, the focus of women's organizations on campus. The society was named Cwens, from the word cwēn, meaning "lady" or "queen" in Anglo-Saxon.

Amos Hall, an all-female residence hall at Schenley Quadrangle at the University of Pittsburgh that houses nine sororities, is named after her. It was dedicated on June 9, 1961.

Personal life While working at the University of Pittsburgh, Amos lived at 166 North Dithridge Street in Pittsburgh.

In 1940, Amos became ill and entered Magee Hospital in Pittsburgh. Amos died there eight months later on May 5, 1941, at the age of 62. She was buried in Pittsburgh.

Selected publications I, Myself, and Me (1939) Attitudes (1939) And So to College: A Series of Six Radio Talks (1928) Educational values of the department of the dean of women (1927) The child self in the normal adult Some Data on the Intellectual Self