University of Chicago. Office of the President

Lawrence A. Kimpton (1910-1977) completed his Ph.D. in philosophy at Cornell University in 1935. He worked in California and Nevada throughout the late 1930s, teaching at the experimental Deep Springs College and working as a cattle rancher. He came to Chicago in 1943 to work as Chief Administrative Officer of the Metallurgical Laboratory, associated with the Manhattan Project. University Chancellor Robert Maynard Hutchins hired Kimpton as Dean of Students in 1944. In 1947, Kimpton returned to Stanford, where he served as Dean of Students for three years. In 1950, he was re-hired by the University of Chicago as Vice-President of Development. When Hutchins resigned in 1951, Kimpton was named as his successor. In 1955, he instigated a large development campaign which raised funds for expansion and endowments. Through the last five years of his tenure, Kimpton oversaw the construction of 15 new campus buildings and a 30 percent increase in faculty salaries. Kimpton also worked to improve the Hyde Park area. Serving as president of the South East Chicago Commission, he oversaw the allocation of federal, state, local, and private funds to projects aimed at improving housing, infrastructure, and safety in the Hyde Park area. Within the academic sphere, Kimpton brought the undergraduate curriculum back into alignment with national standards and expectations. Under Hutchins, the College had accepted students after completing tenth grade, granting a bachelor's degree after the college sophomore year. After fulfilling his three major goals of financial stability, neighborhood security, and curricular standardization, Kimpton resigned in 1960. He worked as an executive for Standard Oil of Indiana until his 1971 retirement.

From the description of University of Chicago Office of the President, Kimpton administration records 1892-1960 (inclusive). (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 613650817

John Todd Wilson (1914-1990) received his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1948. He worked for the American Psychological Association and for the newly created National Science Foundation (1952), where he served as the assistant director of the Biological and Medical Sciences Division. Wilson first came to the University of Chicago in 1961 as a special assistant to President George W. Beadle. From 1963 to 1968 he served as Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation. He returned to the University of Chicago in 1968 and held several positions over the next 8 years serving as Vice-President and Dean of Faculties, Provost and Acting President in 1975 after Levi resigned to become U.S. Attorney General. He was elected President on December 9, 1975. As President, Wilson was noted for his fundraising efforts at a time of financial difficulty for all universities, and as a supporter of student activities. Due to his background, Wilson became a noted expert on the relations between universities and government. He retired from the presidency in 1978, but continued teaching at the university until 1984.

From the description of University of Chicago Office of the President, Wilson administration records 1891-1978 (inclusive). (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 613643046

The earliest documents in this collection date to the period before the official opening of the University of Chicago in October 1892. This collection thus documents aspects of the history of the founding of the University, the creation of its institutional structure, and the roles of key figures in its establishment, such as Thomas W. Goodspeed, Frederick T. Gates, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., and William Rainey Harper. It also contains faculty appointments, memoranda, reports, petitions, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. Topics relate to admissions, financial matters, funds, buildings, academic departments, libraries, curriculum, faculty terms of employment, the professional schools, trustees, the University's relationship with the city of Chicago, the impact of World War I on the University, and student life.

From the description of University of Chicago Office of the President, Harper, Judson and Burton administrations records 1869-1925 (inclusive). (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 613635963

Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977) began his career as a professor and administrator at Yale Law School. Following the 1928 resignation of Max Mason, Hutchins was considered as part of a long list of candidates for the President of the University of Chicago. His experience and qualifications were much debated, but Hutchins was finally elected in 1929, at the age of 30. Hutchins gained a national presence as a public intellectual and representative of academic ideals. His visionary and sometimes iconoclastic positions promoted the University as a site of vital, innovative intellectual activity. Hutchins attracted loyal admirers who supported the University of Chicago through difficult and contentious times, including the Great Depression, World War II, and challenges to academic freedom. While many of his positions were controversial, and some of his reforms were overturned in later years, the ideals of the University of Chicago, as well as its public image, are largely the legacy of the Hutchins administration.

From the description of University of Chicago Office of the President, Hutchins administration records 1892-1951 (inclusive). (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 613642668

Max Mason (1877-1961) served as President of the University of Chicago from 1925 to 1928. Hailing from Madison, Mason had previously served on the mathematical physics faculty of the University of Wisconsin. During World War I, he headed a large research project that developed the "hydrophone," a submarine-detection device that was the basis for later sonar equipment during the war. During Mason's tenure as president, the university began the second phase of a major development campaign that would result in new facilities for a number of science departments, a new Divinity School building, a new football stadium and many other major building projects. The size of the faculty also increased by nearly 20 percent during this time. Mason resigned in 1928 to accept a position at the Rockefeller Foundation.

From the description of University of Chicago Office of the President, Mason administration records 1910-1929 (inclusive). (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 613642936

Edward Hirsch Levi (1911-2000) received his entire education within the University of Chicago system. As a boy, he attended the Laboratory School, before enrolling in the College and the Law School. Upon earning his law degree in 1935, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Law School. Throughout the 1940s, Levi worked in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Justice Department, specializing in antitrust law and atomic energy control. In 1950, Robert Maynard Hutchins named Levi to the Deanship of the University of Chicago Law School. When George W. Beadle became President of the University in 1961, he named Levi as Provost. Levi succeeded Beadle as President of the University in 1968, taking office in a politically-charged atmosphere immediately following the student riots that accompanied the 1968 Democratic National Convention. After the Watergate scandal, Levi was appointed United States Attorney General by President Gerald Ford. After earning Senate confirmation, Levi resigned as President of the University in 1975. As Attorney General, he imposed significant limits on the power of the FBI to use secret evidence-gathering techniques. In 1977, Levi returned to the University as a Professor of Law, and he remained active as a lecturer through the 1980s.

From the description of University of Chicago Office of the President, Levi administration records 1918-1975 (inclusive). (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 613636347

George Wells Beadle (1903-1989) received his Ph.D. in Biology from Cornell University. He taught biology at Harvard, Stanford and the California Institute of Technology before coming to the University of Chicago. During his time at Stanford, Beadle began his collaboration with Edward L. Tatum. Beadle and Tatum worked to establish the relationship between genes and enzymes in the bread mold Neurospora, which would earn them the 1958 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. In 1960, Beadle was elected Chancellor of the University of Chicago and, in autumn of the same year, President of the University. Beadle served as President and Professor of Biology from 1961-1968. Despite calls for universities to become centers for social and political action, Beadle held the University of Chicago steady to its traditional values of research and intellectual excellence. Beadle retired from the Presidency on his 65th birthday. He accepted the directorship of the Institute for Biomedical Research of the American Medical Association which he moved to campus, where he remained to teach and continue experiments with corn for some years. He was named William E. Wrather Professor of Biology from 1969-1975 and retired to Pomona, California, in 1982.

From the description of University of Chicago Office of the President, Beadle Administration records 1916-1968 (inclusive). (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 611962696

George Wells Beadle (1903-1989) was the son of Chauncey Elmer Beadle, a farmer, and Hattie Albro. Beadle was educated at the Wahoo High School in Nebraska and may have become a farmer if one of his teachers at school had not directed him towards science and persuaded him to go to the College of Agriculture at Lincoln, Nebraska. There he took up the new field of genetics and continued on to receive his Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Beadle taught biology at Harvard, Stanford and the California Institute of Technology before coming to the University of Chicago. During his time at Stanford, Beadle began his collaboration with Edward L. Tatum. Beadle and Tatum worked to establish the relationship between genes and enzymes in the bread mold Neurospora, which would earn them the 1958 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

In 1960, Beadle was elected Chancellor of the University of Chicago and, in autumn of the same year, President of the University. Beadle served as President and Professor of biology from 1961-1968. These were turbulent years of growth and change for universities across the country. Despite calls for universities to become centers for social and political action, Beadle held the University of Chicago steady to its traditional values of research and intellectual excellence. Beadle increased the size of the faculty, raised the average salary, and doubled campus expenditures. The three year development campaign reached its goal of $160 million and many new buildings were erected on campus. Beadle led the university through student protests concerning racial segregation in university housing policy as well as Vietnam protests against university compliance with government regulations requiring reports on the academic ranking of male students for draft purposes.

While president of the University of Chicago, Beadle continued his interest in genetics and grew corn behind his house and in other plots near campus, occasionally being mistaken for a University gardener. Beadle retired from the Presidency on his 65th birthday. He accepted the directorship of the Institute for Biomedical Research of the American Medical Association which he moved to campus, where he remained to teach and continue experiments with corn for some years. He was named William E. Wrather Professor of Biology from 1969-1975 and retired to Pomona, California with his wife Muriel in 1982.

From the guide to the University of Chicago. Office of the President. Beadle Administration. Records, 1916-1968, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)

On September 18, 1890, William Rainey Harper was elected by the Board of Trustees as the first President of the University of Chicago. President Harper assumed office on July 1, 1891. The University has had 13 presidents in total:

• William Rainey Harper – 1891-1906

• Harry Pratt Judson – 1907-1923

• Ernest DeWitt Burton – 1923-1925

• Max Mason – 1925-1928

• Robert Maynard Hutchins – 1929-1951

• Lawrence Kimpton – 1951-1960

• George W. Beadle – 1961-1968

• Edward Hirsch Levi – 1968-1975

• John Todd Wilson – 1975-1978

• Hanna Holborn Gray – 1978-1993

• Hugo F. Sonnenschein – 1993-2000

• Don Michael Randel – 2000-2006

• Robert J. Zimmer – 2006-present

From the guide to the University of Chicago. Office of the President. Scrapbooks, 1889-1943, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)