Alma H. Truman collection

Alma Henry Truman was born in St. George, Utah in 1928. He married Ruth Fawcett in 1947. They had four children. Truman served as the President of the St. George Motel Association, the President of the Utah Motel/Hotel Association, and was a member of the St. George City Planning commission. He spent much of his career promoting tourism in southern Utah. He died in St. George, Utah in 2020.

Utah Tech University was established in 1911 as St. George Stake Academy with the original campus on the northwest corner of Main Street and 100 South in Saint George, Utah. High school classes were taught in the original building for the campus, which still stands, and is currently the St. George Children’s Museum. In 1913, the first class of thirteen students graduated from St. George Stake Academy when the population of Saint George was about 1,700 people. The name for the institution changed to Dixie Normal College a few years after its creation, in 1918, when college classes to train new teachers were added to the course offerings. The name was changed to Dixie College in 1923 until 1933 as more college programs were offered. In 1934, the name changed slightly to Dixie Junior College as oversight was transferred to the state. The school’s name legally changed back to Dixie College in 1971, although it may have operated under this name as early as 1952. The campus moved to its current location at 225 South 700 East in 1963, which is when the Dixie High School and Dixie College became separate entities. Then, in 2000, the name was changed to Dixie State College of Utah as bachelor degrees were added. The school became Dixie State University in 2013 as the school was approved to offer graduate degrees. In 2020, Saint George had a population of about 95,300, and the university had approximately 12,000 students enrolled in over 125 programs including masters, bachelors, associates, certificates, and endorsements. The school’s name was once again updated in 2022 to Utah Tech University to strongly identify the location and academic mission of the university outside of Utah.