University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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I f H B J2VYH!AWKER Cfjantellor Jfranfe Strong AN ENROLLMENT increase from about twelve hundred to four thousand, a growth in faculty from eighty to 311, a rise in income from $141,000 to $1,110,000 a year, an increase in books from 37,000 volumes to 125,000, and the erection of eighteen new buildings. This is the record of the University of Kansas during the eighteen years, from 1902 to 1920, in which Frank Strong held the office of Chancellor. When Doctor Strong first came here, the University had been without a chancellor for two years, since the resignation of Francis Huntington Snow in 1900 because of ill health. William C. Spangler of the Board of Regents was appointed acting chancellor and held the office during the two years interregnum. Meanwhile the Board of Regents made diligent search for a new executive. Many candidates were carefully considered, but found wanting. Finally the record of President Frank Strong of the University of Oregon was brought to their attention. He had come to that struggling institution in 1889 and immediately had commenced a fight for reorganization and expansion. During his administration a great change was effected. The state became united in the support of the University as it never had been before; all educational forces were brought into harmony; the enrollment was nearly doubled. It was with such a record as this that Frank Strong arrived at the University of Kansas in August, 1902. Chancellor Strong ' s welcome was an enthusiastic one. The inauguration ceremonies took place in October in the nearly completed Dyche Museum, and at the same time the Chemistry Building was dedicated. Men of prominence from all over the United States attended the inauguration, the final feature of which was a banquet of eleven hundred plates with thirty speakers on the program. Dean F. W. Blackmar said of the new executive at about this time: Chan- cellor Strong will prove a wise counselor and a firm friend of students. Friends of the University who have stood loyally by it in the past and worked for it in days of adversity when the foundations were being laid, may now rejoice in the prospect of a new life. As an educator he is intensely in earnest and as the head of the University he will leave no stone unturned in pushing the Uni- versity to the foremost rank. His strong policy of leadership is what the Uni- versity needs. Doctor Strong took the reins at once, and further history of his adminis- tration is but an account of the development of the University. Green Hall, Bell Memorial Hospital, Robinson Gymnasium, Marvin Hall, Haworth Hall, the power plant, the Administration Building and Oread Training School, are the principal buildings erected during his term of office. His recommendations to the legislature were responsible for nearly all these buildings and for other improvements in the institution. Page 27 Administration - ' ■ ■ ' ■- 1 9 2 O ■ ' I ••■ 1 ' t

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JjWH KER CHANCELLOR FRANK STRONG Administration Page i6 ■ ■! ' I ■■■ l ■ ' ■■ 11 n 11— IT- 1 9 « O ■ ■ ■■ ■■ ■! IJ- '

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T H J2VYH3IWKER Chancellor Jfranfe Strong — Continueb The summer session, to continue the enumeration, was estabHshed during Doctor Strong ' s administration. Likewise were the four-year course in medi- cine, the nurses ' training school, the extension division, and the school of ed- ucation. Desire to be rid of the strain of administrative duties was the principal reason for the resignation of Chancellor Strong, which was presented to the Board of Administration September 12, 1919. He considered resigning in 1914, but on the advice of friends remained in office, and on the outbreak of the war decided to stay with the University through the crisis, but to leave the work of reconstruction for someone else. Doctor Strong will not leave the University, but is to remain as a professor of constitutional law, by appointment of the Board of Administration. On learning of his appointment to the faculty. Doctor Strong said: In going back to the class room, I am hoping to be rid of administrative work forever. After twenty-nine years of continuous service as an administrator I feel that I never want to undergo the strain of it again and that such years of usefulness as remain to me may be spent in teaching in the profession in which I was trained. I am very happy that I may still have an honorable part in the institution to which I have given the best years of my life. Doctor Strong is a Yale man, holding three degrees from that school. He received an A. B. in 1884, an A. M. in 1893, and a Ph. D. in 1897. In addition to these. Baker University and the University of Oregon conferred the degree of LL. D. upon him in 1909. Doctor Strong was sixty-one years old when he retired from the activities of ofhce. He was born at Venice, New York, August 5, 1859, and because he did not like to go, quit school at an early age. A few years later he had a change of heart, and on returning received excellent grades. After leaving Yale, he practiced law in Kansas City from 1886 to 1888. The next four years he was principal of the St. Joseph, Mo., High School, and later went to Lincoln, Neb., where he occupied a similar position till 1895. From 1897 to 1889 he was a history lecturer at Yale, and left there to become president of the University of Oregon. He is a historical writer of considerable note. Among his writings are The Life of Benjamin Franklin, A Forgotten Danger to the New England Colonies, Cromwell ' s West Indian Expedition, and The Government of the American People. He has also written for magazines. He belongs to various professional societies, and is a member of Psi Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa. Doctor Strong has always given much credit for his success to his wife, of whom he said in his last opening convocation address that her courage and helpfulness had much to do with the family ' s survival during its dark days. The resignation of Doctor Strong marks the end of an era of growth for the University of Kansas. His administration of eighteen years is the longest of any chancellor to date, and with its conclusion begins a new period of recon- struction and development. The years of work, the reforms and improvements, and the installing of new ideas for which the University stands indebted to him will never be forgotten. Administration Page 28 ' ■ ' ■■ ■■ ' 1 9 2 O II H t ■« If »l If