DYKSTRA, CLARENCE ADDISON (25 Feb. 1883-6 May 1950) was a political scientist who promoted the city manager form of government. Born in Cleveland to Lawrence and Margaret Barr Dykstra, he grew up in Chicago. Dykstra received a B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1903 and then held teaching positions at the University of Chicago, in Florida, at Ohio State (1908-09), and at the University of Kansas (1909-18). He became nationally known as a leader in state and municipal administration. Dykstra returned to Cleveland in 1918 as executive secretary of the Civic League and started the movement for instituting a city manager form of government in Cleveland. He served on the 1919 committee to improve Cleveland's city charter; he also drafted an unsuccessful amendment allowing county home rule in Ohio and consolidating city and county governments. He unsuccessfully fought the Van Sweringen proposal to put CLEVELAND UNION TERMINAL on PUBLIC SQUARE. The Civic League did not rehire Dykstra as executive secretary in 1920; many attributed this decision to the Van Sweringens' opposition.
In Chicago and then Los Angeles, Dykstra held similar positions to his Civic League position. He became the second city manager of Cincinnati in 1930 and returned to academia as president of the University of Wisconsin until 1945, when he returned to UCLA as provost. A post he held until his death. On 31 July 1903, Dykstra married Ada Hartley (d. 1926); the couple had 1 daughter, Elizabeth. Dykstra married Lillian K. Rickaby on 25 Dec. 1927 and adopted her son, Franz Rickaby. Dykstra was buried in Inglewood, Calif.