Hackerman, Norman

Norman Hackerman served as Rice Univerity's fourth President from 1970 - 1985, after serving 25 years at the University of Texas. Immediately preceeding Hackerman was Acting President Frank Vandiver (1969-1970), who succeeded Kenneth Sanborn Pitzer.

During his tenure at Rice, the university launched the Jeese H. Jones Graduate School of Administration, and the Shepherd School of Music, as well as establishing separate engineering and social sciences schools, and new biochemistry, linguistics, and computer science departments. The endowment was significantly increased by his fundraising efforts, and the residential college system went co-ed under his approval.

Controversy touched his presidency in the early 1980s, when Rice hired Watson Brown as head football coach at a high salary, bringing many complaints from academic-oriented students and faculty. Hackerman reportedly considered the criticism a "commentary on society, not on [himself]".

Hackerman, a chemist, was born in Baltimore, MD in 1912, and graduated with bachelor's (1932) and doctoral (1935) degrees from Johns Hopkins University. He joined the University of Texas faculty as an assistant professor in 1945, and worked his way up through the academic ladder to become President in 1967.

From the guide to the Norman Hackerman personal & professional papers MS 407., 1956-1986, (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX)