A Ten-Year Honeymoon: I had the privilege of serving in what may have been the freest public university in America, free in the sense that I suffered almost no political interference from any quarter in the internal affairs and inner workings of the University of Utah during a full decade of service. (Earning My Degree, p. 78)
I had a first rate team…We were recruiting able people, we had the money, we were getting private support. (A Life in Higher Education, p. 148)
Inauguration as tenth president of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, November 19, 1973
—Photo courtesy of the University of Utah
Identifying and Realizing a Presidential Agenda
[As a result of extensive consultations], I was able within the first month of taking office to restructure the central administration…to know the key regents and members of the Institutional Council, to meet and learn from the academic and staff leaders, and to establish my priorities, which included
- Strengthening the U’s ties with the legislature, which had suffered during the preceding two years
- Strengthening the U’s position within the state system of higher education…
- Improving faculty salaries dramatically, so that we could compete with the nation’s twenty-five to thirty-five leading research universities
- Reducing the size of a top-heavy administration
- Acknowledging the work and needs of the staff…
- Supporting students’ interests and championing their needs…
- Winning back and then holding a broader swath of public goodwill than I found when I arrived…
- Attracting into the central administration the most able, confident, committed, and intelligent people I could recruit
- Increasing our financial support from the legislature and from the foundations, alumni, and friends…
- Keeping a healthy and reasonable balance between my professional duties and my family obligations (Earning My Degree, pp. 81-2)
We have been privileged to serve during ten years of dramatic change for the University:…
- The national standing the University enjoyed in the last ranking of the quality of the graduate programs within the United States…
- Major physical growth…over the ten years...only half of which came from the general funds of the State of Utah…
- Improved relations with our community. (Founder’s Day Speech, March 10, 1983, pp. 2-4)
University of Utah—Photo courtesy of the University of Utah
Publications and Speeches
Publication
"Our Schools in the Eighties: Utah's Challenge to Honor Its Past and Ensure Its Future," in More Students, More Quality--the Opportunity for Utah Schools, ed., Allan Davis (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1981), 1-18.
Speeches
The View from Inside
9-18-1973—"Some Reflections of a New University President,” Annual Faculty Breakfast, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
11-19-1973—“Universities in Our Age: Strategies for Change,” Inaugural Address, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
6-1-1974—“First Steps and Long Journeys,” Commencement Address, Dixie College, St. George, Utah
9-1974—Statement, Alumni Annual Report, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
9-25-1974—Faculty Breakfast Speech, Annual Faculty Breakfast, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
9-30-1975—“Rededication and Renewal in a Bicentennial Year,” Annual Faculty Breakfast, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
9-23-1976—“Facing 1976-77: Some Satisfactions, Some Concerns,” Annual Faculty Breakfast, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
5-16-1978—“The University of Utah: Some Questions About the Work and Worth,” Salt Lake City Rotary Club, Salt Lake City, Utah
Autumn, 1978—Faculty Conference [Open Forum with President Gardner], University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
3-3-1981—“Don’t Look Now, But We’re Being Watched,” Salt Lake City Rotary Club, Salt Lake City, Utah
3-10-1983—Founder’s Day Speech, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
The View from Outside
10-28-1988—“The University and Our Future,” National Advisory Council Twentieth Anniversary, Salt Lake City, Utah
4-23-1993—“Education in a Shrinking World and a Global Marketplace,” Coalition for Utah’s Future/Project 2000, Salt Lake City, Utah
12-6-1996—Remarks to the Coalition for Utah's Future, "Utah--The Next 100 Years," Salt Lake City, Utah
Strengthening Admissions Standards
…in 1973, the University of Utah for all practical purposes had no admissions standards other than high school graduation. There was no required set of courses on which admission depended, no minimum grade point average required in such courses, and only a gesture made in applying minimum scores to national achievement and aptitude examinations…..This single decision, to put course requirements in place for freshman admissions to the university, did more to improve Utah’s public schools than anything that otherwise could have been done…The teachers were thrilled, and so were the parents. (Earning My Degree, pp. 95, 98)
Gardner Hall, School of Music, University of Utah—Photo courtesy of the University of Utah
Speech
2-7-1980—[Announcement of New Admission Standards], Highland High School, Salt Lake City, Utah
Newspaper Notice
2-7-1982—An Open Letter to High School Students and Their Parents, The Salt Lake Tribune.
Medical Center Expansion: Enrollment and Research
Expanding Enrollment: This was the only medical school in most of the Rocky Mountains, i.e., Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah…the state was growing, and it was a facility that was not going to be keeping up with the technical needs and research opportunities. We needed to train more doctors. We needed to have a more viable hospital in terms of critical mass…so we had to expand it. (A Life in Higher Education, p. 150)
[In addition to raising private funds], We also had to persuade the Utah State Legislature to commit the amount of roughly $40 million in general obligation bonds needed [to expand both the medical school and the hospital]…[Following a difficult negotiation] The bill had passed, and the university’s health sciences would continue to grow and develop, laying the groundwork for what is now one of the nation’s most formidable centers for teaching, training, and research in the health sciences. (Earning My Degree, pp. 86-87)
Building genetics research: The University had in-house strength in the sciences and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had unparalleled genealogical and health record resources. “It was not my idea, but it was my privilege to help support it, get it started.” (A Life in Higher Education, p. 167)