Arizona State University. Office of the President

Official records of John W. Schwada, President of Arizona State University, 1971-1984.

The Office of the President of Arizona State University was established in 1900. From 1886-1900, Arizona Territorial Noemal School, Tempe Normal School and Arizona State Teacher's College were served by six principals.

John Russell Nelson earned his B.A. in Business and Economics from Pacific Union College and his M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Finance from UCLA. He began his professional career at the University of Minnesota, where he taught finance (1961-1970). Nelson moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder in September of 1970. Here, he served as Vice Provost and Professor of Finance (September 1970-July 1971), as Associate Provost (July 1971-October 1972), as Vice President for Budgets and Planning (October 1972-April 1974), as Vice President of Administration (April 1974-May 1977), as Executive Vice President of the University System and Acting Chancellor of the Boulder Campus (May 1977-February 1978), and finally as Chancellor (February 1978-1981).

Nelson succeeded John W. Schwada as President of Arizona State University in 1981. He believed that academics should be the University's first priority and that all other concerns, including athletics, should be subordinate to it. Although Nelson's administration was marked by conflict with the athletic department, the University grew significantly during his tenure. ASU West was constructed in 1983, 20 buildings or additions were completed on the Tempe campus, enrollment increased from 37,000 to 40,500, and research grants doubled. Nelson also brought a new focus on computer-assisted learning to the University and established computer literacy training for the general public. He stepped down as President of Arizona State University in 1989 in order to accept the Deanship of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Business School. Nelson retired from academia in 1992.

Lattie Finch Coor Jr. was born to Lattie Finch and Elnora (Witten) Coor in Phoenix, Arizona on September 26, 1936. He graduated from Northern Arizona University with high honors in 1958 and earned his M.A. (1960) and Ph.D in Political Science (1964) at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Coor began his professional career at Washington University, where he served as a Lecturer (1967-1967) and Assistant Professor (1967-1976) in the Department of Political Science, as Assistant to the Chancellor (1963-1967), as the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1967-1969), as the Director of International Studies (1967-1969), as Vice Chancellor (1969-1974), and finally as the University Vice Chancellor (1974-1976). On June 1, 1976 Coor accepted a position as the President of the University of Vermont.

Coor began his term as President of Arizona State University on January 2, 1990 and was officially inaugurated on March 15 of that year. He named undergraduate education, research, cultural diversity, and economic development as the Four Pillars of the University's agenda in his inaugural address and went on to build ASU into a Research I University. Coor stepped down as ASU's President in June of 2002. He was criticized over the terms of his separation package, which included a one-year sabbatical at his presidential salary of $224,250, the creation of an Office of the President Emeritus at ASU's Downtown Center, and the indefinite extension of a supplemental pension plan enacted during Coor's time as President. In June of 2003, Coor became a faculty member at ASU's School of Public Affairs and also serves as Chairman and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona.