*

/

i

EXTRA
A riz o n a State U n iv e rsity ’s
M o rn in g D a ily

President reportedly plans
return to faculty next year
By DARRIN HOSTETLER
State Press
©Copyright 1988, State Press

J . R u sse ll N elson, su ffe rin g from
em otional stress and hounded by m inority
groups to resign, will announce a t the fall
faculty breakfast today that he is stepping
down as ASU president, well-connected
University sources said this week.
When he was asked to comment, Nelson,
59, said: “There a re a to to T interesting
rum ors floating around this tim e of year,
and the only thing I can suggest is that you
attend the breakfast and test the accuracy
of th at one.”
Nelson, a professor of finance, will tell the
faculty th at he will leave the presidency on
July 1,1989, and return to the faculty ^giving
him one m ore year to achieve his objectives
for the University, the sources said. His
tim efram e also will give ASU months to find
a replacem ent.
The faculty breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m .
in the MU Arizona Room. Nelson is
scheduled to speak at about 8:15 a.m . An
outline of his speech, issued earlier in the
w eek , m ad e no re fe re n c e s to h is
resignation.
H ie outline said Nelson would welcome
faculty back to campus and discuss his
“Action Now” m inority recruitm ent, and
retention plan, (he University budget and
h is c o m m itm e n t to u n d e rg ra d u a te
education. George Cathcart, ASU News
Bureau director, said there was no prepared
speech for Nelson’s address to the faculty.
Nelson suffered from valley fever in
F eb ru a ry — an illn ess th a t fed to
speculation in the University community
that he m ight resign to convalesce. Nelson
has told those near him th at he has felt
<f overextended iii his job. In recent months he
has attem pted to reduce his workload.
Nelson, whose 1987-88 salary was $117,233,
held m eetings with his vice presidents
Thursday, apparently to inform them of his
intentions and ask them not to discuss his
plans.
None of the vice presidents would confirm
that Nelson was resigning. Brent Brown,
vice president for University relations, said,
“There are a lot of rum ors floating around. I
wouldn’t be surprised at anything that
happens at this University. I just suggest
that you be there (at the breakfast) Friday
morning and find out if the rum ors are
true.”
H enry R eeves, vice p resid en t for
research, said, “I would be very sad if he
left the University. He has done a lot for this
University, and I adm ire him greatly.”
Associated Students President John Fees
expressed surprise a t Nelson’s plans.
“He’s really seen this University through
a growth period, and we’re better for his
term in office. We’re going to miss his

leadership to deal with the problems and
challenges we face,” Fees said.
Nelson, ASU’s 13th president, has held the
post since 1981 when he succeeded John
Schwada, who resigned unexpectedly amid
controversy in ASU’s athletic departm ent.
N elson’s pro b lem s stem m ed from
m inority recruitm ent and retention a t ASU,
and in the last year, he has faced growing
criticism about his ability to m anage the
University.
The Arizona Hispanic Forum in June
called on Nelson to step down for failing to
appoint Hispanics to high-level positions at
the University.
Shortly after the forum issued its demand,
Nelson introduced “Action Now,” a 21-point
plan for improving University m inority
recruitm ent and retention efforts.
Then in August, Hispanic leaders publicly
complained th at Nelson was stonewalling on
releasing a report that was critical of the
adm inistration in the School of Social Work.
Two social work professors, Paul Wong
and John Michael Daley, had filed suit wifi)
ASU’s Affirm ative Action Office in 1987 on
behalf of the school’s faculty, alleging that
some m inorities were being discrim inated
against. A report compiled by investigator William
M akahilahila cited a distinct “chilling
effect” in the school and* recommended
action. The Affirm ative Action Office’s
then-director, Jackie W eatherby, bypassed
M akahilahila’s rep o rt, and issued a
“whitewashed” report, the two professors
claimed.
Nelson ordered an investigation of the
entire affair am id charges of a cover-up. A
report from the investigation, which is being
conducted by ASU law adjunct Roxana C.
Bacon, is due Sept. 15.
W eatherby asked in early sum m er to be
transferred, and she now is director of
personnel at ASU West.
Nelson also was criticized during the fall
1987 sem ester when he issued a new policy
giving fijfe^University authority to discipline
students for off-campus activities.
T he “ e m e rg e n c y m e a s u re ’’ w as
introduced on Sept. 9, 1987, and was
criticized by student leaders for its vague
wording and apparent broad scope. The
ASASU Senate labeled the policy as
“dangerous” in November 1987, and flrged
Nelson to get student input and reconsider
the m easure.
In December 1987, Nelson issued a
clarified version of the policy, which
focused on “unauthorized use, possession or
distribution of any controlled substance or
illegal drug.”
Nelson traveled to China and the F a r E ast

ASU President J. Russell Nelson, who Is expected to announce M s resignation today, con­
templates« question during s 1987 Interview. Nelson, the University's 13th president, is 59.

in September 1987 after several Chinese
university officials visited ASU, but some
faculty members criticized the trip, saying
it was an unnecessary expense during a
tim e of severe budget cutbacks.
A fter the 18-day trip, during which he
toured the country and revised exchange
agreem ents with two Chinese universities,
Nelson said it was “hard to say” if the trip
was what he expected.
D uring N elson’s presidency, ASU’s
growth has been explosive. His seven-year
tenure has seen the groundbreaking of ASU
Wpst and m ore than $100 million in planned
Tdmpe cam pus construction. Student

enrollm ent also increased, topping the
42,(too m ark in 1987. ASU is the nation’s
s ix th -la rg e s t u n iv e rs ity in stu d e n t
headcount.
Construction under Nelson has included
the $11.5 million Hayden Library expansion,
the $15 million Fine Arts Complex, the )
enclosure of Sun Devil Stadium’s end zone
and three parking garages. Work also has
started on the tJniversity Club, a membersonly faculty and staff dining and drinking
facility.
S ta te P ress sta ffe r Ben McConnell
contributed to this report

PgeS,

State P ro »

Friday, August 19,1988

EXTRA

SI

Nelson’s 7-year term marked by growth
of ASU campus, touched by controversy
By b e n Mc C o n n e l l
and MARTY SAUERZOPF
State Press

Jack Russell Nelson, 59, came to ASU July 1,1981, from the
University of Colorado a t Boulder, where he was chancellor.
When he arrived, ASU’s population was nearly 35,000
students. It has growi) to nearly 43,000 in the seven years
Nelson has been president.
Nelson earned a bachelor’s degree in business and
economics from Pacific Union College and a m aster’s of
business adm inistration degree and a doctrate in finance
from UCLA.
He taught finance part-tim e at UCLA from 1955 to 1959
while working toward his graduate degrees. From there,
Nelson went to Andrews University in B errein, Mich, for two
years and was head of the school’s business adm inistration
departm ent.
In 1961 Nelson moved to the University of Minnesota, the
m ost populous college in the United States, to teach finance.
He went to Boulder from Minnesota in 1970 as a vice
provost and finance professor. He moved up through the
school’s hierarchy, capturing posts as associate provost, vice
president for budgets and planning and vice president for
adm inistration. He was appointed Boulder’s chancellor in
February 1978.

During his tenure at ASU, President J. Russell Nelson, shown
here on his way to the spring 1987 commencement, has presid­
ed over 22 graduation ceremonies.

In July 1981 Nelson becam e ASU’s 13th president. He
replaced John Schwada, who had been enveloped in
controversy surrounding form er ASU football coach Frank
Kush. A form er player of Kush’s charged that the coach
punched him during a gam e.
In Arizona, Nelson has served on the board of directors of a
num ber of institutions: Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital, the Heard
Museum, the Del Webb Corporation and the Arizona
Academy.
Diving a 1964 breakfast he held with students, Nelson said
teaching a t the; 60,000-student University of Minnesota
tem pered his concern for increasing enrollm ent figures.
“ It is difficult to have a feeling of intim acy a t a university
of this size, b u tl am not personally turned off by the size,” he
sa id /
\
• -’X
Nelson’s starting salary a t ASU in 1961 was $78,000. In 1986,
he received an 8 percent salary increase, from $106,900 to
$115,500. His 1987-88 salary was $117,233.
Like any leader of a large institution, Nelson has seen his
share of controversy and accomplishment. Here are a few
.highlights of his seven-year adm inistration.

ASU CONSTRUCTION :
Nelson has overseen the most ambitious construction
program in ASU history. More than .$100 million in new
construction, due to be completed by 1990, has been changing
the face of the University since 1967.
The most ambitious project ASU has undertaken under
Nelson’s leadership is the $11,5 million Hayden Library
underground expansion, due to be completed in February
1989.
The additional building, underneath Cady Mall, will be a
two-level structure th at will provide shelf space for about
375,000 books and room for about 1,500 students and faculty.
The 90,000 square-foot, $15 million Fine Arts Complex and
Paul V. Galvin Playhouse was Nelson’s project to bolster
space for the arts a t ASU.
The complex also will provide classroom and office space.
An $11.5 m illion addition to the College of A rchitecture has
been taking shape on University Drive. The $12.7 million
project has been delayed several tim es, with ¿a projected
completion date of fall 1989.
The $8 million that has been spent on beefing up ASU’s Sun
Devil Stadium has gone to add 1,700 loge seats and add offices
for the athletic departm ent.
Begun a t the beginning of 1988, the project is expected to be
completed next month.
Nelson cam e under fire from student leaders in the spring
of 1988 for promoting a plan to further expand Hayden
Library by razing adjacent West Hall, deemed by some to be
a historic building. Students are currently battling to obtain
open hearings oh library expansion.
WEAPONS RESEARCH:
In January 1987, Nelson rejected a 3-year-old resolution
drawn up by the Faculty Senate prohibiting research
directed toward the development of nuclear, chemical or
biological weapons a t ASU.
Nelson told the senate that the resolution would inhibit
research inherently or remotely connected to the types of
arm s research the resolution sought to ban, thereby
“lim iting academ ic freedom .”
A week later, Nelson m et with nearly three dozen
antinuclear protesters who asked him to reverse his decision
on the resolution.
Nelson, who was only expecting about three protestors,
said he was surprised a t the size of the group, which included
both faculty and students.
/In M arch of th at sam e year, the Associated Students
Senate narrowly defeated a resolution supporting Nelson’s
decision oil the m atter. The ASASU resolution stated that the
senate “firm ly supports President Nelson’s decision to
m aintain academ ic freedom by not banning potential
weapons research a t Arizona State University.” ,
STACY HARVEY INCIDENT:
Nelson cam e into conflict with form er Faculty Athletic
Representative M arianne Jennings during the fall of 1987
when he overturned Jennings’ decision to declare ASU
linebacker Stacy Harvey ineligible to compete in that year’s
football season.
Jennings based her decision on Harvey’s apparent
shortage of class credits. Athletes are required to complete a
minimum of 24 credit hours per year.
Harvey asked that credit for a correspondence course be
counted, but University policy dictates that such courses can
only apply toward academ ic, not athletic, eligibility.
Nelson said Harvey received poor advising from the
Intercollegiate Athletic Board and based his overruling of
Jennings on th atfact.
Turn to N olson, page 3.

With enrollment expected to reach 60,000 by the turn of the century, ASU Preal
$100 million in new campus construction. Nelson and ASU Sun Angel Mai Strai

Regents led search that brouc
When John Schwada* resigned as ASU
president in 1980, the Arizona Board of
Regents formed a 12-member search
committee of regents, faculty, students
and alumni to nam e a replacem ent.
J. Russell Nelson beat out about 150
other applicants for the job, according to
1980 newspaper accounts.
The newspaper stories said the search
committee looked for someone who could
m eet m ininium qualifications th a t
in c lu d e d h o n e s ty , good h e a lth ,
dem o n strated a b ility in re searc h ,

academ ic and teaching exp
doctorate or comparable exj
d e m o n s tr a te d commit
Affirmative Action and an
relate well with University c<
groups.
A fter the application dead!
the search committee broke u]
team s and reviewed the appl
eliminate unqualified applicai
The search committee i
approxim ately 10 to 15 appl
presented five names to the fi

12 other m en have prec
serving in ch ief executi
By JOAN McKENNA
State Prate

Twelve m en have preceded J . Russell
Nelson as president of ASU. They were:
HIRAM BRA DFORD F A R M E R
[1886-1888)

F arm er served both as principal and
eacher to Arizona T erritorial Normal
School's first Class of 33 students.

ASU professor Marianne Jennings in 1967, s s faculty representativs in the athletic department, benched Sun Devil footbsH star
Stacy Harvey tor not having enough academic credits to play. President Nelson overruled her, and she resigned. The resulting flap
spurred a cartoon from former Aitor rim ee artist Bob Boas Bell.
K

Duri ng th e New Y ork n a tiv e ’s
adm inistration, there was one classroom
building, and his adobe residence served
as a boarding house to female students.
The principal’s beginning annual
salary of $2,300 was trim m ed to $2,006his
second year due to poor tax collections.

ROBERT LINDLEY LONG (
Long became principal ol
T erritorial Normal during a t
funds and attendance were c rit
His salary was $1,600 a year.
A native of Lancaster Cot
Long had a diverse past, in
b a c k g r o u n d in e d u c i
adm inistration and experiei
prospector in the West and a
m iner in South Africa.

DAYTON ALONZO REED (
Reed served as: both prin
teacher for Territorial Not
in s tru c te d students in 1
m ath em atics and pedagof

State PrcgsEXTRA

.page^

Friday; A ug u sti 9,1988

N elso n
Continued from pogo 2.

J ennings resigned her post shortly following Nelson’s
decision.
A report by Chicago attorney Mike Slive in early
November determ ined that Nelson’s decision to allow
Harvey to play in the 1987 season was m ade without sufficient
inform ation for a “one-time” exception to U niversity policy.
The report also Stated that there was evidence to support
Jennings’ original ruling.
Slive cited several factual errors in a Nelson statem ent as
evidence that the president was not aw are of all the pertinent
inform ation when he m ade his decision.
The report $lso concluded that the president’s office
“should not be the forum where athletic eligibility disputes
are resolved.”
Nelson agreed th at eligibility disputes should be resolved
by a “decision-making body comprised of and representing
both academ ic and athletic interests.”
UNIVERSITY CLUB:
One of the projects Nelson supported the most was the
University Club, a members-only dining and drinking facility
for faculty and staff.
H ie club has failed to m eet expected deadlines for
m em bership goals, and Nelson granted the club’s planners
several reprieves.

President Nelson ambitiously pursued the establishment of the
University Club, a private, members-only dining and drinking
facility for faculty and staff. The club, which Is to be located In
the Fins Arts Annex, actively sought donations from the
general public.

Plans for club, to be located in the historical Fine Arts
Annex, have gone on despite the lagging membership.
State Press staffer Shawn Dahl contributed to this report.

Nelson becam e finalist for presidency
at University of W isconsin during 1985
Withdrew from race for position
to stay in A S U ‘cam pus setting’
By MIKE BURGESS
State Press

S u w n Schum an/Stato Pre ss

entury, ASU President <1. Russell Nelson Implemented and oversaw more than
n Angel Mai Straus broke ground In 1987 for the University’s g o lf course.

t brought

Nelson to A SU post

id teaching experience, a
comparable experience, a
ate d c o m m i t m e n t to
Action and an ability to
ith University constituency

ipplication deadline passed,
immittee broke up into three
eviewed the applications to
qualified applicants.
:h committee interviewed
ly 10 to 15 applicants and
e names to the full Board of

Regents for consideration.
The finalists Nelson beat out for the job
w ere:
x r .
P aul Pearson, an executive vice
president of Rutgers University in New
Jersey;
Gene Budig, president of West Virginia
University;
W. Ann Reynolds, provost a t Ohio State
University;
Albert Barber, vice president for
research a t UCLA.

*

In Septem ber 1985, ASU President J . Russell Nelson was a
top candidate for the presidency of the University of
Wisconsin system.
Nelson, one of three finalists for the post, withdrew from
the selection process, saying that he “would rather work in a
campus setting than in a central office.”
He also said “significant support in the (ASU) community”
played a role in his decision to stay at ASU.
While a candidate for the Wisconsin position Nelson said,
“The University of Wisconsin a t Madison is one of the
greatest land-grant universities in the country. It’s a leading
campus by anyone’s standards.”
Kenneth Shaw, chancellor of the Southern Illinois
University syestem , was eventually selected for the position.
Jack Freem an, executive rice president of the University of
Pittsburgh, was the third candidate.
A fter Shaw was selected, Nelson told the ASU Faculty
Senate, “I think there is a lot of work to be done here, and I
want to be a p art of doing i t ”
The Wisconsin position would have paid m ore than $100,000
annually. At ASU, Nelson is paid $117,283 a year and has use
of a house and a car.
The Wisconsin University system Nelson would have led
consists of 28 seperate campuses, including two doctorate
schools and 13 universities.
More 160,000 students are enrolled in the Wisconsin system.
Enrollm ent a t ASU is estim ated a t about 43,000.
.H ie position becam e vacant when form er Wisconsin
President Robert O’Neil resigned to assum e the presidency
of the University of Virginia.
Nelson said the Wisconsin position was“ a job of very

Nelson was a finalist for the directorship of the University of
W isconsin system In 1985. He later withdrew his name and the
chancellor of the Southern Illinois University system eventually
took the position.

significant sc<ge” and denied th at controversies in ASU’s
athletic departm ent at the tim e influenced his decision to
seek the job.

— BEN McCONNELL and JOAN McKENNA

! p re ce d e d J.R . N elson
ecutive’s office at A S U

[NDLEY LONG (1888-1890)
ne principal of Arizona
>rmai during a tim e when
ndanbe were critically low.
s $1,600 a year,
f Lancaster County, P a.,
diverse past, including a
n d in e d u c a t i o n a l
n and experience as a
the West and a diamond
h Africa.

LONZO REED (1890-1892)
d as both principal and
Territorial Normal, and
st udent s in lan g u ag e,
! and pedagogy. Reed
month for 10-month tenure.

The Ohio-native m ade the first efforts
to improve the appearance of the school,
pnifiHng building woodwork, installing
plumbing and providing trees, shrubs
and some fencing.
His background included farm ing,
toaphing for 12 years in Los Angeles
public schools and serving as principal of
a school in Phoenix.
^
Reed retired because of poor health.
He, d ie d in P h o en ix in '1894 of
consumption (tuberculosis).
EDGAR L. STORMENT (1892-1895)
Storment was hired at age 25 as an
assistant to Reed, giving the school its
first two-member faculty. Storm ent also
Turn to E m Mon H , m a o 4.

PRESIDENT

A s governor, one of Evan Macham’s Jobs was to serve as a regent. Mecham, a republican, who later was Impeached from office,
said In 1987 of Nelson, a democrat: “ I wouldn’t have Mm run my company.” Nelson, left, is pictured with Arizona Board of
Regents Executive Dtaector Molly Corbet Broad and Mecham.

Page 4

Stotcft«»» BO RA

Mda£Augu*M^988

Nelson preceded by 12 men as ASU president

Hiram Bradford Farmer .

Robert Lindley Long

taught languages and liberal arts classes.
During his three-years as principal,
Storment hired ASU’s first two women
teachers, initiated student activities and
journalism , began the athletic program and
intram ural sports, founded the school’s
alumni association and drew up initial {dans
for Old Main. The salary rem ained $200 a
month.
Storment, who was born in Illinois, began
teaching in Arizona after he failed in
farm ing along the Gila River.

JOSEPH WARREN SMITH (1899-1900)
Smith, the last of Territorial Normal’s
principals, introduced music and
reorganized the entire curriculum during
. his tenure.

Arthur John Matthews

Edgar L. Storment

Swetman’s degrees included a bachelor’s
degree in philosophy from Hamilton College
in New York, a m aster’s from Columbia and
a doctorate from Stanford.
Swetman resigned in 1933 to become
principal of Oswego State Normal School in
New York.
^
,“

ConU nuad from pag* 3.

JAMES A. McNAUGHTON (1895-1899)
McNaughton, the second principal from
New York, spent his term expanding the
school, beginning with the faculty. That
num ber increased from four to seven.
Old Main was completed, the first football
gam e was played and student government,
literary societies and the firjt Boarding
Club formed.
At the end of McNaughton’s term , the
curriculum was extended from two to three
years and entrance requirem ents were
raised.
McNaughton held a doctorate from
Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.

Dayton Alonzo Reed

W mim.

Wmm
M

Jam es A. McNaughton
Smith received his m aster’s degree from
the University of Michigan in 1880. He left
the teaching profession in 1900 and entered
the business world.
ARTHUR JOHN MATTHEWS (1900-1930)
Matthews, the first adm inistrative head
titled “president,” also filled the roles of
reg istrar, business m anager and instructor
of law, education and m athem atics. He
expanded faculty, enrollment, acreage and
buildings.
The school was renam ed twice under
M atthews. It became Tempe Normal School
in 1901 and Arizona State Teachers College
in 1929.
Matthews wanted to turn the campus into
a landscaped sem itropical garden. He
supervised plantings of trees, flowers and
shrubs.
Matthews attended Syracuse University,
where he later received an honorary doctor
of laws degree in 1916. In 1925, the
University of Arizona granted him an
honorary degree of doctor of pedagogy.
After his presidency, Matthews continued
to serve as president em eritus.
RALPH W. SWETMAN (1930-1933)
Swetman created the self-supporting
sum m er session during his tenure. Under
Swetman, the institution joined both tb^
North Central Association of Secondary
Schools and Colleges and the Border
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

GRADY GAMMAGE (1933-1959)
Arizona State Teachers College became
Arizona State University in 1958, one of
Gammage’s final years as president.
During World War II, Gammage served
as chairm an of both the United W ar Fund
Campaign Committee and United China
Relief. He was adviser to the Allied M ilitary
Government in Germany and was awarded
the Legion of Merit.
Gammage, a native of Prescott, Ark.,
earned bachelor’s and m aster’s degrees
from the University of Arizona and a doctor
of education degree from New York
University.
G. HOMER DURHAM (1960-1969)
Durham, an author, editor, political
scien tist, college professor and
adm inistrator, brought rapid growth to
ASU.
Enrollm ent increased from 10,640 to
23,341; faculty nearly doubled; the budget
jum pedfrom $11 million to $29 million;
m ore th an a dozen build in g s w ere
constructed^ and the university gained

Ralph W. Swetman

Joseph Warren Smith
accreditation for professional program s in
architecture, engineering and m using.
Durham received a doctorate hi political
science from UCLA.
HARRY K. NEWBURN (1969-1971)
Newburn, an educational consultant
across the nation as well as in Brazil,
Venezuela and Europe, was elevated from
his position as dean of the ASU College of
Education \o the presidency.
Newburn also had served as president of
the University of Oregon and the University
of Montana, Missoula. He earned his
m aster’s degree and doctorate from Iowa
State University.
JOHN W. SCHWADA (1971-1981)
Schwada was credited with expanding
curricula and helping ASU become a
prestigious university. He resigned am idst a
wave of turm oil in 1960.
Problem s included athletic scandals,
internal bickering and inaccessibility on
Schwada’s part. After stepping down, he
continued to serve as professor em eritus of
political science.
Schwada received a doctorate from the
University of Texas in international law and
American government and adm inistration.
He held the position o f chancellor a t the
University of Missouri, Columbia, prior to
joining ASU.
A 8U Departm ent o f A rch iv e s and M am iecripts

H

Grady Gammage

G. Homer Durham

Harry K. Newburn

John W. Schwada