College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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PRESIDENT ALVIN DUKE CHANDLER College oi William and Mary United S+afes Naval Academy Imperial Defense College 12

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BOARD OF VISITORS Under state law the College is governed by the Board of Visitors who hold three regular nneetings a year. The Board is made up of ten mennbers with the Superintendent of Public Instruction serving in an ex- officio capacity. A Rector, who acts as chairman, is elected by the group and additional meetings when necessary during the year may be called by him. Terms of office are for a period of four years with five members being elected every two years allowing an overlapping in terms. Rec- tor of the Board of Visitors for this year was Oscar L. Shewmake of Richmond. First row: Ramsey. Tucit, Foreman, Shewmake, Pomfret, Howard. Vaden. Second row: Ware, Mc- Manaway, Marrow, Duke, Bauserman,

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W M ' S 22ND PRESIDENT On September 13, 1951, Dr. John E. Pomfret, who had been president of William and Mary for nine years, resigned. The Board of Visitors, upon recommendation of a faculty committee immediately appointed Dr. James W. Miller, chancellor professor of philosophy, as acting president until a new executive could be selected. In a brief ceremony on October II, 1951, Alvin Duke Chand- ler, former rear admiral in the United States Navy, was installed as the twenty-second president of the College of William and Mary. President Chandler ' s intense Interest in the College may well have been inherited from his father, J. A. C. Chandler, during whose term as nineteenth president, from 1919 to 1934, many of the most important campus buildings came into being. Prior to becoming president of William and Mary, Admiral Chandler had a brilliant career as a naval officer. After secondary schooling and a brief enrollment at William and Mary, he entered the United States Naval Academy and was graduated In 1923. Seven years later he was ordered back to the Academy as an Instructor and while there collaborated In the writing of one of the school ' s Physics textbooks. After two years assignment on the battleship Oklahoma he again returned to Annapolis as an instructor and co-authored a text on torpedoes. Between 1937 and 1941 he was assigned as operations officer and flag secretary to the commander of Battle- ship Division Two, as commander of the destroyer South- ard, and briefly at the Office of Chief of Naval Opera- tions. During World War II he commanded a number of destroyer divisions and squadrons arid served on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet. For his war service he was awarded the Legion of Merit, Gold Star and V, the Bronze Star Medal and V, and the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon which was awarded his flagship the USS O ' Bannon. In 1948 he commissioned and commanded the Des Moines which at that time was the heaviest cruiser in the world. From command of the with Mrs. Chandler Des Moines Chandler was assigned to the Imperial De- fense College In London. From England he was ordered to the Office of Chief of Naval Operations as director of logistic plans, the office he held when notified of his selection as President of the College of William and Mary. The first official appearance of the new president be- fore the student body was at a special Convocation on October 18th when he delivered an inspiring address confirming his faith In the College and pledging his loy- alty to William and Mary. President and Mrs. Chandler. during their brief residence on the campus, have made every effort to develop a cordial understanding of the student body and to become aware of its problems and interests. The Colonial Echo, In behalf of the student body, places its confidence and trust in President Chandler and welcomes him as the twenty-second president of the College of William and Mary. at the Tobacco Bowl Game discussing senior problems with Doris Hasemeyer Ai work