There are few people in the history of UW Oshkosh who influenced the school as much as Forrest R. Polk. Polk came to the Oshkosh Normal School in 1915 as a young instructor in industrial arts. In 1931 he was named president of the college, a post he held until 1959. During his long tenure at the school, Polk saw the institution mature from a non-degree granting Normal School to a state college with a healthy liberal arts program, as well as a thriving education department. Some of these developments were still not realized by 1946 when the school celebrated its 75th anniversary. In the last days of that year, President Polk took time to imagine what the school would be like 30 years later in 1976. In his radio talk, titled "30 Years," dated December 26, 1946, Polk discussed the post-war challenges facing the college and his optimism for the future.

Dr. John E. Kerrigan is the former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. To Polk's original talk, Kerrigan has added some of his own thoughts about Polk's clairvoyance and the current state of the university.