Claim: Melvin Earl Cummings became Professor of Sculpture at the Golden Gate Park, and was appointed Instructor in Modeling (and later promoted to Assistant Professor) in the University of California, Berkeley's School of Architecture, a public research university in Berkeley, California, in 1946.
Evidence: Melvin Earl Cummings (August 13, 1876 – July 21, 1936), also known as M. Earl Cummings, was an American sculptor active in San Francisco, California. Cummings was born in Salt Lake City, and studied sculpture first at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art in San Francisco, under Arthur Mathews and later Douglas Tilden, and subsequently from 1900-1903 at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, under Louis Noël and Antonin Mercié. In addition, in 1906 he was appointed Instructor in Modeling (and later promoted to Assistant Professor) in the University of California, Berkeley's School of Architecture, which position he held until his death. He also served on Golden Gate Park's Board of Park Commissioners from 1904 until his death, and several of his works are located in the park. After his return to San Francisco, he became Professor of Sculpture at the Mark Hopkins Institute, which position he retained to 1915.