I want to go back to Russ for a moment. You know, when I look back you
presided over so many things, the period of growth. Remember a study? I
made a demographic study. I started with Durham and then uh plotted the
demographics and it came to nelson and it's a great big hump. And then on
from there. Yeah. And that was a challenge because I remember trying to
get money out of the legislature to fund this and the legislature would
say, well let's see if the growth is permanent and then come back and talk
to us. And that was typical of what the legislature can understand their
rationale. But it didn't make our job tough. I can name off a number of
things that the dress presided over A. S. U. West, the downtown center,
the old asylum that we got back from down the state and that's part of the
campus. He presided over a all of the problems in the athletic department
that included included a super bowl on campus, which no other president
has ever had to deal with. The United States. And those were probably as
an exciting a time as any university in the country with the growth and
everything else that was going on new campuses bringing up and new growth
and in a major metropolitan area. It was probably a a very prime time to
be the president. I couldn't have found a more exciting place for us. An
interesting ride.
Well I think we could very well say that you brought the university to
maturity.
No, I think frank that we had the opportunity to get it started on the
road to maturity.
A different, a different kind of university. I think it was mature at what
it was and we were given the challenge of getting it started to become
what it could be, which is and it was a different reality that the
region's laid out for us and I don't think that happens overnight. I had
eight years to work on it, Laddie worked on it 12 years we're not there
yet and I'm sure that that will be continuing, will continue to be a major
focus of the university to bring itself into a different level of work and
recognition.
Well, it was interesting for all of us to have played a small part in that
process and on behalf of everybody that will read this in the future or
listen to it. I thank you for being here. Well thank you bret, not that I
was appointed the moderator, but well you've doneit