University of Illinois - Illio Yearbook (Urbana Champaign, IL)

Page 31 text:

President's Message Through THE ILLIO I wish to extend to the students of the University of Illi- nois greetings and best wishes. I hope your years here have been and will continue to be rich in the acquisition of knowledge and appreciation of life in our American de- mocracy, interesting in new experiences, and withal, happy ones. Life on the campus of a great modern University offers much in addition to the opportunity for intellectual development and the acquisition of knowledge, essential as these two basic objectives may be. There are also endless opportunities for social and physical development which are in some respects fully as important in your future life as professional competence in whatever field of practice you may enter. It is my experience that what you do with your years at college largely determines what you will do with the years beyond. You can't grow up but once, and I hope you miss none of the many opportunities for the well-rounded development of a normal human being while you are a student on the campus of the University of Illinois. '7' 4 Page 25

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ARTHUR CUTTS WILLARD Preriffefzf Arthur Cutts XVillard was elected seventh president of the University of Illinois by the Board of Trustees on March 13, 1954, and assumed the presi- dency in July of that year. He has heen a member of the University far' ulty since 1913, coming here as assistant professor of heating and ventilation in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Four years later he was made a full professor and in 1920 was named head of the department. Nine months previous to his election as president, he had been made Acting Dean ot' the College of Engineering. Dr. Willar'd was born in Wasliington, D. C., and attended the Central High School there. He studied in the National College of Pharmacy for one year and then entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taking a chemical Page 24 engineering course and receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1904. Following graduation from M.I.T. he taught for one year at the California School of Mechanical Arts in San Francisco and for three years at George XV:ishington University in the national capital. The four years preceding his transfer to Illinois he served the United States Wlar Department as Sanitary and Heating Engineer. Three honorary doctor's degrees have been conferred upon President Willard: Doctor ol' Engineering by the Case School of Applied Science, Doctor of Laws by George Washington University, and also the Doctor of Laws by North- western University.

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To the Students of Illinois V Oscfm G. Maven Premient, B The year just passed has been gratifying to the Trustees in the progress it has brought in the University's building program. Gregory Hall, which will be as fine a classroom building as any university can boast, with its air-conditioned rooms and auditoria, will be a boon to the summer students. The Library stacks and the addition to the McKinley Hos- pital are splendid and much needed facilities. The beau- tiful Illini Union Building when completed will open a new era in University student life, and with its mag- nificent rooms and veranda, should thrill the hearts of all Illini. What will probably be one of the most modern and most economically operated power plants in any Ameri- can university is now under construction. Finally, the Trufteer need of men's residence halls is not being overlooked by the Trustees. State funds are not at hand to provide these facilities, sorely needed at Illinois, but means for erecting at least one unit may be found. All the above are merely physical. It remains for the Student Body and Faculty to translate them into the edu- cational and spiritual values for which the University strives. Illinois has always exemplified sound educational policies and the high ideal of service to one's fellow men. The Student Body are to be congratulated upon their earnest, wholesome viewpoint and their appreciation of the opportunities afforded them by the people of Illinois. Li ' .Cf KARRAKER GORDON PLUMB Page 26 I ' , JENSEN CUNNINGHAM MEYER