Altizer, Henley Newton
Dr. Henley Newton Altizer (1905-1991) was the first instructor of the school to have a doctoral degree. In fact, he held two doctorates: an Ed.D. from Webster University and a Ph.D. from the Virginia Institute of Technology. He only taught for one year at BTS during the 1941-42 academic year and then taught with the Tazwell County School District in Virginia. However, he holds the distinction of being the school's first instructor with a doctorate. His teaching subjects were Speech, School Management, Principles of Teaching, Typing, and Penmanship.
A member of the Assemblies of God, Altizer was first introduced to Church of God members when a student at Marshall College and attending a Pentecostal meeting conducted locally under a tent. It was after this association that he began to frequent Church of God services. In 1935 he was listed as President of the Pentecostal Correspondence University in Bearwallow, Virginia.
As early as 1935 he had articles published in the Church of God Evangel. In 1940 he was a guest at the Virginia State Convention for the Church of God and preached a message entitled, "The Need of the Hour." The following year he was secured to teach at the Bible Training School and College. At the 1941 General Assembly he was appointed, along with Zeno C. Tharp and R.R. Walker, to a "Committee to Arrange Ten Lessons as Ministerial Course".
Originally from Tazwell, Virginia, Alitzer studied at Marshall College, earned a B.S. at Radford Teachers College, the M.A. at Central University, the Ed.D. at Webster University, a Ph.D. at the Virginia Institute of Technology, and took courses at the West Virginia Business College.
Alitzer was a longtime resident of Richlands, Virginia, and was married to Myrtle Mae Ward (1913-2011), who was a member of the Bluefield Church of God at Bluefield, West Virginia. Both Dr. and Mrs. Alitzer are buried at Greenhills Memory Garden at Claypool Hill in Tazwell County, Virginia.
/ L.F. Morgan
A member of the Assemblies of God, Altizer was first introduced to Church of God members when a student at Marshall College and attending a Pentecostal meeting conducted locally under a tent. It was after this association that he began to frequent Church of God services. In 1935 he was listed as President of the Pentecostal Correspondence University in Bearwallow, Virginia.
As early as 1935 he had articles published in the Church of God Evangel. In 1940 he was a guest at the Virginia State Convention for the Church of God and preached a message entitled, "The Need of the Hour." The following year he was secured to teach at the Bible Training School and College. At the 1941 General Assembly he was appointed, along with Zeno C. Tharp and R.R. Walker, to a "Committee to Arrange Ten Lessons as Ministerial Course".
Originally from Tazwell, Virginia, Alitzer studied at Marshall College, earned a B.S. at Radford Teachers College, the M.A. at Central University, the Ed.D. at Webster University, a Ph.D. at the Virginia Institute of Technology, and took courses at the West Virginia Business College.
Alitzer was a longtime resident of Richlands, Virginia, and was married to Myrtle Mae Ward (1913-2011), who was a member of the Bluefield Church of God at Bluefield, West Virginia. Both Dr. and Mrs. Alitzer are buried at Greenhills Memory Garden at Claypool Hill in Tazwell County, Virginia.
/ L.F. Morgan