Pfeiffer University - Chimes Yearbook (Misenheimer, NC)

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ADMINISTRATION President Board of Trustees Administrative Heads Pfeiffer Professors Faculty Staff ...............

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DR. J. LEM STOKES, 11... Leader of Pfeiffer's transition from the ranks of junior college to that of a senior four-year liberal arts college is Dr. J. Lem Stokes, II, born in Korea, the son of a Methodist missionary, educated at Asbury, Duke, and Yale, who assumed the presidency of the college in July, 1953. In May, 1954, the Board of Trustees authorized the advance to the rank of full senior college and instructed President Stokes to proceed in all possible haste in that direction. Under his direction, the college has undertaken a three-fold program of growth: development of a broad liberal arts program of academic excel- lence which saw its first class of fifty-eight students receive the bachelor's degree in June, 1957; a two-million-dollar physical expansion program com- pleted with an additional enlargement plan of $800,000 almost ready to start; and the building of a faculty which will compare favorably with the great liberal arts colleges of the nation. Never dismayed or discouraged, convinced that ways can and must be found, armed with faith and prayer, President Stokes has begun the task of developing a faculty, a program for expansion of physical facilities, and a plan to place the college on a sound financial basis. Thus, Pfeiffer's rapid development has not resulted from ample funds; rather, it has resulted from a progressive administrator who has placed quality along with service to the church first and has fought successfully against what seemed to be insur- mountable odds to secure the resources which have been necessary to meet the needs.