Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

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CHAPTER ONE ADMINISTRATION is a ticklish and difficult job from any viewpoint. ii The problems confronting executives call not only for intelligence and knowledge, but for initiative, wisdom and common sense as well. To handle the manifold and complex situations which arise in the administration of our modern University, Lehigh ' s Board of Trustees elected Clement Clarence Williams to the position of President when Charles Russ Richards retired from that office in 1935. President Williams, seventh president of Lehigh, began his engineering career when he graduated with a B.S. in C.E. from the University of Illinois in 1907. He was a member of the faculty of the University of Colo- rado until 19 14, and for the next 21 years was associated with similar insti- tutions. He received a LL. D. degree from Lafayette in 1935, and was given Eng. D. degrees by Northwestern and Bucknell in the two years following. Besides his educative activities, President Williams served as a supervising engineer for the War Department during World War I, and has written books and articles on civil engineering and college education. Through his businesslike office in the Alumni Memorial building pass the manifold prob- lems of University direction and supervision. The final authority for all administrative decisions rests, of course, in Lehigh ' s Board of Trustees, of which Eugene Gifford Grace, E.E. ' 99, is the president. Mr. Grace ' s generous gift of $300,000 has made possible the President CLEMENT CLARENCE WILLIAiMS

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construction of the campus ' s newest building, Grace hall, the construction of which began last year. He joined the Bethlehem Steel Company in 1899 after graduating as valedictorian of his class, and rose very rapidly through various positions to the presidency of that company, in 191 3. Mr Grace has been a Lehigh trustee since 191 2, and has served as a corporate member since 191 3. Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Treasurer of the University, and Vice- president of the University are three titles combined in one man— Walter Raleigh Okeson, another Lehigh old grad who has served his Alma Mater in one capacity or another ever since he graduated, in 1896. Okey, besides his University functions, has been a football official for many years; he has served as commissioner for the Eastern Intercollegiate Football Association, and is now chairman of the National Football Rules Committee. As Treasurer of Lehigh, Mr. Okeson has in a large measure control over the University ' s seven million dollars ' endowment; he handles this vast sum with capacity and discretion. John Irvine Kirkpatrick is a Lehigh man also, having graduated in 1929. As Assistant to the President, Mr. Kirkpatrick works on the many broad problems of administration which no one man can adequately handle. When in college he led a rather full career, having been a member of several honor societies as well as a mainstay on the football and lacrosse teams for three years. He worked as a furniture salesman and as a bank examiner before taking on his present job with the Administration. Robert F. Herrick, still another graduate of Lehigh, has offices in the Alumni Memorial building as both Editor of the Alumni Bulletin and acting Secretary of the Alumni Association. In the first capacity Mr. Herrick over- sees the publication of the organ which binds together the University ' s graduates in a unified body; as Secretary he attends alumni meetings, handles correspondence, and raises funds for the Association. Completing the page is Alfred V. Bodine, President of the Alumni Asso- ciation. As president of the organization Mr. Bodine spends much time in integrating and coordinating various alumni groups, and in traveling around to meetings and discussions. Especially interested in the far-famed and much- talked-about Alumni Students Grants Plan, the ethics, justification, purpose and necessity of which have been hotly debated ever since its announcement, and the conduct of which has been subject to much criticism, Mr. Bodine has concerned himself to a great extent with it. above -Eugene G. Grace, Walter R. Okeson. center - Board of Trustees. below- John I. Kirkpatrick, Robert F. Herrick, Alfred V. Bodine.