Cal State Fullerton - Titan Yearbook (Fullerton, CA)

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Perspectives on A part of Cal State FuUerton died this fall. This part was Dr. Miles McCarthy. A founding father, McCarthy was with the university since its beginnings as an orange grove next to two-lane State Col- lege Boulevard. His name is famil- iar to many as the name on the building on the south side of the quad. He contributed not just his name but his whole life to this university, teaching biology for over 35 years and serving in administrative positions all the way up to president of the univer- sity. Since McCarthy ' s last few years were spent teaching part time, fewer students had the chance to know him. Those who did know him agree that it is important to share with others who he was so those who didn ' t know McCarthy can carry some part of who he was. There were many parts to Miles McCarthy: the part that loved to teach, the part that loved to garden and sail, and the part that always put himself aside to help other people. His first and last parts are the ones he is most remembered for around here. The final sum- mer of his life he spent teaching, which is how he would have wanted it. He literally lived and died in the classroom. Most of all he lived for the classroom. His teaching career began at the University of Penn- sylvania, his home state. McCarthy earned his PhD. in zoology in 1943 and started teach- ing there immediately after. While doing research there he met his assistant Martha who later became his wife. In 1946 the young couple moved to California and McCarthy took up teaching at Pomona College, where he re- mained for ten years. In 1959, he and William Langsdorf saw their dream of a liberal arts university spring forth from the orange groves of Fullerton when Orange County State College held its first classes. So began the long-term affair between what we now know as California State University at Fullerton and Dr. Miles McCarthy. Needless to say, he taught. He also did other things, like act as chair of the Health Professions Committee, in charge of helping students advance to medical school. Dr. Don Shields, who was recruited by McCarthy to teach chemistry and who was president of the university when the Health professions Committee was formed, recalled that when he first asked McCarthy to chair the committee he thought that Shields was inventing a job for him. Even if that had been the case. McCarthy did the job and gave it everything he had. He and his committee made sure that their letters of recommendation were more than just wordy repeats of transcripts. He spent time getting to know students so that he could give them recommendations as humans, not just as numbers off a roll sheet. His recommendations were more than just well thought out words. They had the force of a man well respected in his field. He and Martha did significant research on several health issues, including burns and burn treat- ment. Just as importantly, medi- cal schools knew his name before his letters arrived . An. example of the lengths he went to was the summer of 1976 when he packed his family into a Volkswagen van and toured the country visiting 41 medical schools finding out the latest on admissions policies. He attended conferences, met people, shook hands, and relied on his ability to be himself to earn the respect of others. It soon got to the point where a letter of recommendation from McCarthy and the Health Professons Committee read like a Monopoly card: Get Into Medical School Free. This success started in the 1970s and continued throughout the 1980s, when 85% of students recommended by McCarthy ' s committee for medical school were accepted every year except one. This rate was over 90% four times and it was perfect twice. McCarthy liked to explain it his own way. We ' ve had pretty good luck, he once said. This success was an extention of his doing what was most important in the world to him: advancing his students. Former McCarthy student and now Professor of Medicine and Public Policy at USC Dr. Robert E. Tranquada remembers McCarthy with great warmth and was invited several times by him to speak to his students. He had then and always has had a very deep and real interest in his students. He ' s an unusual man who sees his role as teacher as greater than imparting knowledge, but also being a real associate and counselor to his students, Tranquada said in a story about his former professor. His favorite place to reach students was in the classroom. Judy Mandel, associate vice- president for University Advance- ment and a friend of the McCarth family, said. I know during his lifetime he turned down a lot of presidencies because he wanted ti teach. He belonged in the class- room. Some of my earliest inemories of this campus and j some of the reason that made it ' so attractive were connected to seeing Miles on his way to teach, recalled Dr. Jane Hippolyto of the English department. It was obvious that was what he was doing because he was wearing his white lab coat and he was gener- ally pushing a cart that was laden with materials for class and he was very joyous. She met Dr. McCarthy when she came to CSUF I

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Table of Contents dedication 4 presidential letters 6 buildings 8 campus life 13 organizations 18 events 56 arts 74 athletics 88 graduates 104 commencement 159 staff page 161 grad ads 162 business ads 168 Perspectives-

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ss siaried led len 85? by ' medical ly year s over IS perfect explain n i pretty an at m rid to ems. (obeil E. iicCartliv Dr. Miles McCarthy 1 teacli. of Its vas «as irin? his ; jene ' - ■as ' lade d he 3| in 1968. She described him as ilways able to say the right thing. The advice he gave was always ' downhome, accurate, insightful, ind constructive. If any one Derson lived the values that the ;ampus could and should be. it ' s Vliles, she said. I think every- 3ody that has known Miles would lave to say that in some way or mother, whether you were his student or his colleague or what- ver that he affected you in that way. That ' s quite a legacy. A story that demonstrates McCarthy ' s effect on his students ;omes from a neighbor of Hippolyto ' s. The student ' s name s Heather and her mother told :he story to Hippolyto. Heather leeded to take her general educa- ion biology class and decided to cike it in the summer of 1995, the ast class McCarthy ever taught. r eather was a liberal arts major md was not looking forward to aking biology, but a summer with McCarthy changed her tune to- A ard the subject. Initially she irned a B in the class which ;hanged to an A after McCarthy .ailed her and told her he decided o throw out one of the questions n the final. She was so moved by iim that she decided to go into caching to try and affect others ihe way he had affected her. When he passed away. Heather as crushed. Teaching was not the only thing. McCarthy did at the univer- sity. Besides the Health Profes- sions Committee he served as vice- president of the university for four years and as president for nine months. McCarthy recog- nized the importance of adminis- tration to student advancement and he put his full effort into the job. Still, his favorite place to be was the classroom. The only year I haven ' t taught ever since I got out of school was the year I played president. McCarthy said once. I just couldn ' t manage it. All the time 1 was vice president I taught si. units every semester. . .1 li od for those six hours. When he got frustrated, he always felt better after hitting the dirt in his garden. When 1 was dean or doing admin- istrative jobs I would always say Well, at least at night I can go home and take out my frustra- tions on the shovel. ' And it helped, it really did. In 1983, McCarthy was granted emeritus status by the university. Had he been anyone else, he would have retired and spent his time gardening and sailing. But he was not everyone else. He continued teaching one class every semester, which was more than his doctors advised him to. To McCarthy, teaching was part of a healthy lifestyle. He did find time to enjoy those other things, though. Every year he and Martha produced a large vegetable garden. Shields remembers get- ting McCarthy produce each season. Another great love of his was the theater. Shields and McCarthy, while attending a conference in Chicago once, trekked through the snow and -15 degree weather to see a play. In 1984 the university broke tradition by renaming the Letters and Sciences Building McCarthy Hall while he was still teaching in it. In her letter re- questing the building renaming. Dr. Jewell Cobb, former university president, wrote: Throughout his service at Fullerton, Dr. McCarthy has put his own interests aside in favor of advancing those of stu- dents and the university. He is truly a leader of the highest stat- ure and one fully worthy of the honor a building renaming would provide. 1 know of no leader besides Dr. McCarthy who has contributed so much to the university ' s first quarter-century with so little recognition, she wrote in a second letter. He is a totally unselfish individual whose chief concern is the welfare of students. Miles had great enthusi- asm for the work he did, said Shields of his friend and former colleague. Whether it was planting the seeds of tomatoes in his garden or the seeds of knowledge in his students, he always gave them his full attention. After over 30 years of getting his full attention, he is getting ours one more time. If he were still with us, he would most likely decline any more awards or memorials. Whether he likes it or not, he is getting one more: this yearbook. As you look through it and see students learning, having fun, graduating, and especially as you remember the time you spent in the building on the south side of the quad that was designed by and named for him, know that Dr. Miles McCarthy helped start it all because he was dedicated to giving students a better opportu- nity. The university will never forget him. I never knew him. but I won ' t forget him either. - Nathan Orme Dr. McCarthy-