Washington State University - Chinook Yearbook (Pullman, WA)

Page 25 text:

New President Selected Mr. Smith Comes To Washington State He came highly recruited after a na¬ tion-wide search that took many months. Not a football tackle, not a seven foot center, but a rather short man, with a salesman’s grin. He came to Pullman, liked what he saw, and agreed to become the next pres¬ ident of this university. He is only the eighth person to hold the title of president. He took over July 1, the quiet time of year in Pullman. Samuel H. Smith will earn $98,000 as the president of WSU. He replaced popular president Glenn Terrell who re¬ tired after many years here. Smith came from Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agriculture where he was the dean. Smith told faculty and community leaders at his first official meeting with them that WSU is a better school than even its faculty believes — “you have to look at it from the outside to have an impression of the quality of the institu¬ tion and the people who are here.” Outgoing president Terrell said Smith has the patience to be a good leader and the personal style that makes people want to follow him. “He has to be firm, but also to do a little tap dance and be flexible when he sees he’s butting his head against a wall,” Terrell said . The search for the new president had been hidden in secrecy and the final announcement was a major topic on campus. All the media in the area had been on the story and the choice of Smith as a new president was in the press before the fin¬ al hiring by the WSU Board of Regents in March. Smith, 45, was popular with the re¬ gents because of his ability to attract both private and state monies for his area in Penn State. It also appeared Smith was the favorite with students who had the chance to meet all the finalists when each visted campus. The finalists for the job were Smith, whose degrees are in plant pathology; Russel Jones, vice president for academics at Boston University; and James C. Williams, dean of the Carnegie Institute of Technology at Carnegie- ' Mellon University. Regent R.D. Leary said “we think he fits WSU’s mission at this time — he com¬ es with impecable credentials. He’s a good academician, a good researcher and a good administrator — plus he’s a nice guy”. Smith had been a Penn State faculty member since 1969 and became dean in 1981. A California native, he received both his undergraduate and doctoral de- New President Samuel Smith responds to questions at a press conference after being recently named to replace Glenn Terrell. (Color photo by Scott Obom and opposite page photo by Ernest N. Hoover) grees from the University of California at Berkeley. The first president of the university, which opened in 1892, as Washington State College, was George Lilley of the South Dakota Agriculture College. His salary was $4,000 per year. Lilley served just over a year, and then was fired on a split vote of the Board of Regents. His replacement was a Seattle principal named John W.Heston. Stu¬ dents protested in support of Lilley. The most responsible for the firing of Lilley was a regent named Smith. When he and Heston arrived on campus, a group of students pelted them with eggs and cab¬ bages which were not fresh. One tradi¬ tional story was that the new president of the college sought shelter in a corn stack. After the student protest, the regents met in Tacoma, and went on record against the students and asked for im¬ mediate steps to be taken to punish the guilty parties. The state’s new governor, John M. McGraw called for a new board of re¬ gents. The new board then fired some of the faculty members and Heston res¬ igned. On July 22, 1893, Enoch A. Bryan was elected president. He found himself the president of a college slightly over a year old which had fired one president and lost a second, suffered a scandal over finances and had a legislative investiga¬ tion. It had also had two boards of re¬ gents and three sets of faculty. Bryan served until 1915. On Jan. 1, 1916, E.O. Holland assumed the pres¬ idency. His successors, in order, were, Wilson M. Compton, C.Clement French, and the just retired Glenn Terrell. Expressions 21

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Housed in Bryan Honors Celebrates 25th Anniversary The concept “honors program” may bring visions of college eggheads, but that should not be the case at this uni¬ versity. The honors program here has a student enrollment of 615 students and has been cited by a number of experts for its approach to education. The program originated 25 years ago and has graduated about 2,000 students. Approximately 75 percent of the gradu¬ ated have gone on to graduate or profes¬ sional school. The Honors Program was initially directed by the late Dr. Sidney G. Hacker when it began with 36 students in Carpenter Hall in 1960. From a sparse beginning with one desk, a Filing cabinet, a borrowed typewriter, and one secret¬ ary, the program has grow n to its present facilities in Bryan Hall. Since February, 1964, the program has been directed by Dr. V.N. Bhatia. Other honors programs at other schools have come and gone, but the program here has maintained its reputation and even become stronger during the last 15 years, despite budget cuts. Dr. Bhatia said the program is one of the most copied in the nation today. The New ' Yoik Times in 1975 described the program as “widely regarded as one of the strongest in the country.” In 1984 the National Institute of Education cited the program for taking one of the country’s most promising approaches to education. The institute cited 145 undergraduate programs at 120 institutions throughout the country for their “notable” programs, promising approaches, and academic efforts in the last decade. The Honors Progam is not considered an accelerated program, but is an enrich¬ ment program which attempts to pro¬ vide a more challenging general educa¬ tion than might otherwise be available, Bhatia said. The program’s independence from other colleges allows its students to study in various subject areas and thus add breadth and depth to their education. The program draws students and in¬ structors from every college on campus, resulting in campus-wide support. While the participants come from all colleges and departments, slightly more than half of the students are science and engineer¬ ing majors. There are approximately an equal number of men and women in the program. Students are invited to join the prog¬ ram on the basis of grade point average and aptitude and college entrance ex¬ amination scores. Approximately the top 10 percent of the entering freshman class is invited to join the Honors Program. Honors courses are not usually survey courses, but rather try to provide a more in-depth introduction to the subject. Sec¬ tions of the same course differ in content and reflect the academic interest and specialty of the instructor. Many profes¬ sors like to teach in the program as it allows them to develop their own special interests while teaching highly qualified students in small classes. Honors Prog¬ ram students must maintain a 3.00 grade point average to stay in the program. Although it is not required, many Honors Program students study a fore¬ ign language and or participate in fore¬ ign study programs through the Office of International Program. The Honors Program has an exchange with Universi¬ ty College in Cardiff, Wales, and honors students frequently apply to the ex¬ change with the University of Sterling in Scotland. The study abroad program in Copenhagen, Denmank, also attracts many of the honors students. The Honors Program, located in Bryan Hall, consists of administrative offices, a reading room, a lounge, and library. This facility provides an environ¬ ment where honors students can work and study. The Honors Program at Washington State University is a highly acclaimed general education program celebrating its 25th anniversary in 1985. Expressions 23