Wilson Named President
New UO President
, Is Personable Mon,
With Brilliant Mind
By Al Kerr
Emerald Editor
Oregon’s new president, O.
Meredith Wilaon, is a very per
, sonable ipan, with a brilliant, in
cisive mind.
Forty-four years old and the
father of six children, Wilson has
‘ a sincere, unpretentious manner;
it is one of confident opinion, yet
* engagingly reserved and unassum
ing in expression. And the expres
sions of his beliefs as well as his
past record indicate that he is in
tellectually tops.
Wilson has been on the campus
r twice prior to his interviews with
, the University board of deans and
l the faculty advisory council earlier
„ this month. Once was at a north
west conference in Eugene on gen
eral education, when he consulted
with Hoyt Trowbridge’s faculty
committee on general education,
* which was to develop Oregon’s
sophomore honors program. The
" second time was as a speaker be
• fore the state high school Inter
national Relations League.
His Western Interstate Con,mis
sion for Higher Education met at
Timberline Lodge in August of
1952.
• Wilson's academic study was
> done in history, with emphasis on
L American history, and specializa
tion in colonial history. At the
University of London he studied
■ English history, mostly of the Tu
, dor period. His doctoral thesis was
clone on the Denver and Rio
Grande railroad, a study combin
ing historical and economic fac
tors.
0. MEREDITH WILSON
Deans, Faculty Council Lavish
In Praise of New President
Members of the faculty advisory
„ council and the board of deans,
_ who participated in the selection of
O. Meredith Wilson as ninth presi
► dent of the University of Oregon,
•- are emphatic in praise of the man.
„ Victor P. Morris, dean of the
school of business administration,
senior dean, and acting president
of the University, said:
“Dr. O. M. Wilson is an excellent
,. selection for president of the Uni
I versity of Oregon. His clear-cut
„ educational philosophy and his
fundamental intellectual and moral
1 principles assure us that the prob
lems facing the University and
the state system of higher educa
tion will be dealt with consistent
ly, constructively and creatively.
"I believe that the University
of Oregon under Dr. Wilson will
take its rightful place of leader
ship in the development of upper
division and graduate work, both
in the liberal arts and in the pro
fessional fields. His broad academ
ic training and his wide experience
with colleges and with educational
foundations hold out high hopes
to us as to the stimulating quality
of his leadership.
"I am enthusiastic about his
selection as President. The Uni
versity of Oregon will move ahead
into another period of great de
velopment.”
Hoyt Trowbridge, chairman of
the council and professor of Eng
lish, stated: “The search for a new
president has been admirably
conducted by the chancellor and
his staff in a spirit of cooperation
among all interested groups. The
final decision was made by the
state board as law requires, but
with free and active participation
by faculty representatives at every
stage.
“Meredith Wilson was a leading
candidate from the beginning and
his appointment was recommend
ed to the board after the October
interviews by both the advisory
council, representing the faculty,
and the board of deans. He will
make a splendid president. He is
a man of national stature with a
wide and varied experience in uni
versity work.
"He is a scholar and teacher
with a solid liberal training, an
educational statesman who will
give the University a strong and
forward-looking leadership. He is
the sort of man every faculty
hopes to get when a new president
is chosen, and his appointment is
a very happy 'ending for us.”
C. P. Schleicher, not a member
of either body but an associate of
Wilson’s when both taught at
Utah, was overwhelmingly enthu
siastic about the choice. Said
Schleicher, "The University is ex
ceedingly fortunate in obtaining
Wilson. He has a warmth of per
sonality, and sympathy which en
ables him to work well with stu
dents, faculty, and the public. He
possesses the ability to enlist all
to work together in a joint cause.
"Wilson has the ability to make
up his mind; he makes decisions,
and carries them out.” The new
president has a strong interest in
students, Schleicher said, and
will find time to get in and work
with the students, understanding
their problems as he does.
Schleicher, who feels that the
University has obtained the best
available man in the country for
the presidency, said that everyone
at Utah was chagrined when Wil
son left the college for the Ford
foundation. He said that Wilson
would take a pretty broad view
of University education, as indi
cated by his integration of studies
work, begun at Chicago and
strongly pushed at Utah.
It was Schleicher who brought
Wilson to the campus to speak
before the high school Interna
tional Relations league. Schleicher
also recalled Wilson's talks at the
northwest conference on general
education, when* Wilson impressed
students and professional people
alike.
Said other members of the
council:
W. C. Rallaine, professor of
business administration: “I believe
Mr. Wilson has the background
and educational beliefs that the
faculty want in their new presi
dent. He will surely receive their
sincere support.”
E. A. Cykler, professor of music:
“Wilson is a superior man, one of
the outstanding presidents in the
country, and one of the finest
available candidates one could ask
for.”
R. R. Huestis, head of the chem
istry department: “We were in
complete unanimity in the selec
tion, pleased with Wilson's pre
sentation in the interview. When
we first considered candidates, he
was a strong contender; when we
met him, we were convinced that
we had been fortunate in think
ing of him as such a strong con
tender.”
C. W. Macy, head of the eco
nomics department: “My impres
sion was very favorable.”
I. M. Niven, professor of mathe
matics: “The University is very
fortunate in getting a man with
excellent qualifications for the
post.”
And here is what members of
the board of deans had to say:
Eldon L. Johnson, college, of lib
eral arts and graduate school,
who was an associate of Wilson’s
on the national committee for the
selection of the Ford foundation’s
fellowship winners, and who had
contact with Wilson when both
headed liberal arts programs, Wil
son at Utah and Johnson at Ore
gon:
“The selection is excellent. Mr.
(Please turn to page two)
Ford Fund Man
Picked by Board
O. Meredith Wilson, a top official of the Fund for the Advancement
of Education, a Ford Foundation program, was today unanimously
named the ninth president of the University of Oregon by the state
board of higher education.
Wilson, who has been secretary of the fund since 1952, was pre
viously dean of the University college (comparable to Oregon’s col
lege of liberal arts) at the University of Utah, and associate dean
of the College at the University of Chicago prior to that.
He replaced H. K. Newburn, who resigned the presidency Sept. 16
to head the Educational Television and Radio Center in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, also a Ford Foundation program. Oregon’s new president
plans to be in Eugene by March 15,1954.
He was also appointed professor of history.
Wilson Received Unanimous Endorsement
*i.?evrle,Ctl0n,°ft Wllson culminates four months of work by the
and tW° faCUlty bodies- the University deans and the
faculty advisory council. The latter two groups gave unanimous ent
doisement to Wilson as their choice for President, and the board itself
was unanimous in picking him when his name was formally plare*
in nomination this morning. rurmaiiy piacett
Earlier this month the board interviewed three candidates for
president, two outsiders and one local man. The faculty groups als*
President Welcomes 'Return to Front'
Oregon’s new president-designee, O. Meredith Wilson, welcome,
this opportunity to return to education at the front, he told the
Emerald. Wilson is presently secretary of the Ford Foundation’s
Fund for the Advancement of Education, which works to improve
education externally through financial means.
A state university should be an educational agency for the entire
state, Wilson said, working with public education at all levels. And
regarding a university program, he said that the only just question
which could be asked of a university is: Is it doing what is the most
important thing that can be done in its situation?
Wilson stated that he takes an intellectual interest in students,
that anyone on an administration or faculty should be interested in
the Intellectual growth of students. Other aspects of student life
ho said, are important, but as settings to intellectual growth.
Mrs. W ilson told the Emerald that she was very happy about her
husband’s appointment, and that she felt he would be an excellent
president. Oregon is a magnificent state, she said (having visited
Oregon on past occasion).
Dr. and Mrs. Wilson have six children, the oldest, Meredith dr., 14.
and the youngest, Margaret, 2'/2. The others are Connie, Diane, John
and David.
interviewed the two non-Oregon nominees. A total of 20 definite
candidates were screened by the board and the faculty advisors.
R. E. Kleinsorge, president of the board, said that “We are indeed
fortunate to have attracted Dr. Wilson to head the University of
Oregon. His broad experiences as a scholar, teacher, and administrator
are such that he is eminently qualified to lead the University We aio
particularly happy that he is to be available relatively soon.’’
Chancellor Charles D. Byrne, who worked with Dr. Wilson on the
Western Interstate commission higher education executive committee,
hailed the appointment as one that “will meet with great approval in
the campus community and will provide splendid leadership for the
University's role in the Oregon state system.”
Said Wilson today, "It is a real pleasure to be chosen to work with
faculty and students of the University of Oregon and with the state
KOAC to Broadcast Wilson Election
A transcription of the state board of higher education’s selec- •
tion of O. Meredith Wilson as University president at today’s meet
ing will be broadcast on station KOAC at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The recording, made as the board elected Wilson the ninth
Oregon president, is being broadcast on the regular radio program
of the state board report.
board of higher education. Mrs. Wilson and I are looking forward to
the opportunity of again directly sharing in university experiences."
"Oregon and its University enjoy a fortunate reputation in educa
tional circles. The rapid increase in population there presents prob
lems and opportunities that should make an educator’s life exciting
and profitable. I am eager to join with the chancellor, the beard, th»
faculty of the University, and with Oregon’s other institutions ia
shaping the state’s educational future.”
A graduate of Brigham Young University, where he obtained hi*
BA degree in 1934, Wilson did graduate study at the University of
Heidelberg and the University of London. He earned his Ph.D. degree
at the University of California in 1943, where he was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa. Wilson is considered to be an outstanding scholar}
in American history.
Taught at BYU, Utah, and Chicago
Wilson’s teaching experience includes assistant professorships of
history at Brigham Young, the University of Utah, and the Uni versa tv '
of Chicago; associate professorship at Chicago, and professorship
at Utah. He was also dean of the school of arts and sciences at Utah
from 1947 to 1948.
Wilson’s major accomplishment at the University of Utah was a.
reshaping of the general studies program to bring the various academic,
disciplines into more unified relationshp as to subjects taught. Tb*
political scientists, economists, and sociologists, for example, weie
more closely integrated in the social science field.
The program operated along a system of faculty seminars, sinco
lone must first work with the faculty in order to have an effect on
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