Office of the Chancellor and Executive Vice President

Upon taking office in 1951, Chancellor Henry T. Heald began to centralize administrative functions. He found the administration's history of making decisions based on budgetary demands to be at odds with the goals of an institution for higher learning. Heald sought to develop a policy emphasizing essential educational objectives at a time when the University's rapid growth threatened academic development. In order to preserve the accomplishments achieved through expansion and at the same time execute greater control over educational policy, Heald bolstered the ranks of the central administration by appointing in 1952 David D. Henry to the newly created position of Executive Vice Chancellor. Henry assumed the duties of the discontinued Office of the Provost and served as the chief educational officer of the university. Shortly thereafter, Heald appointed an assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor for University Development.

The grant-funded New York University Self-Study Plan, an exhaustive analysis of NYU's policies and practices, outlined a new administrative organization as part of a comprehensive, long-range plan. In affirming centralized authority, the self-study prompted the revision of executive titles: the Chancellor became the President, Vice Chancellors became Vice Presidents, and the University Council became the Board of Trustees.

In 1960, the Board of Trustees amended the bylaws to change the title of the Executive Vice President to Chancellor and Executive Vice President (C/EVP). Although the new title did not bring with it a change in duties, it more accurately reflected the C/EVP's position as second in command, while indicating that the Office of the C/EVP was endowed with NYU's original conception of the Chancellor: the head of faculty, the chief liaison between faculty, students, and Board of Trustees, and the officer to recommend faculty.

The C/EVP served as the academic alter ego of the President. As chief of University Operations, the C/EVP supervised schools and divisions, student housing, special programs, relations with the State and Federal Departments of Education, and training programs like the now defunct ROTC. The C/EVP was in charge of most "internal organizational problems," and also attended to related educational activities outside the immediate needs of the university, such as educational television and various research projects. In addition, the C/EVP oversaw the Academic Council (later changed to the Dean's Council, then the Committee of Deans), a small advisory group resulting from a self-study recommendation and consisting of high ranking officers who are each "responsible for a major segment of the university's educational program, as to policy and administration." In addition, the Office of Institutional Research and Educational Planning operated until 1975, under the authority of the C/EVP. The C/EVP office was dissolved in 1977.

David Dodds Henry, 1952-1955

David Dodds Henry was named the first Executive Vice Chancellor of NYU in September 1952. During his tenure he served as chairperson of the Metropolitan New York Educational Agencies Committee on Television, and two other committees on educational television, sponsored by the American Council on Education. In addition, he was a member of the Special Committee for Rubber Research of the National Science Foundation, and a member of the National Planning Association. Henry frequently lectured on educational television, the use of computers in education, and the university in an urban environment. In 1955 Henry left NYU to assume the presidency of the University of Illinois.

Carroll Vincent Newsom, 1955-1956

In July 1955, Carroll Newsom was appointed to succeed David Henry. Newsom brought a distinguished career as a mathematics professor and administrator to NYU. He was subsequently elected president of the University at the time of Henry Heald's resignation in September 1956. Newsom resigned as President in September 1961 and became a senior Vice President at Prentice Hall Publishers.

John Eli Ivey, Jr., 1957-1959

John Ivey, formerly a sociologist at the University of North Carolina, was appointed Executive Vice President of NYU in March 1957. Ivey supported many special projects and exploratory programs at NYU, expanding his position and the scope of the central administration. He resigned in September 1959 and later became Dean of the College of Education and Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University.

George Dinsmore Stoddard, 1960-1964

George Stoddard, a psychologist and former president of the University of Illinois, came to NYU in 1953 after diplomatic service with the post-war educational mission to Japan. Before becoming Chancellor and Executive Vice President in January 1960, Stoddard directed the NYU Self-Study and served as Dean of the School of Education. He played a central role in constructing a new hierarchy of administrative offices that centralized educational policy and budgetary control. In 1964, Stoddard resigned to become Distinguished Professor of Education.

Russell Denison Niles, 1964-1966

Russell Niles' long association with NYU began in 1929, when he joined the University as an assistant law professor. He became Dean of the School of Law in 1948, and was named Chancellor and Executive Vice President in February 1964. He resigned in 1966 to become President of the Bar of the City of New York. Niles continued many of the policies of Stoddard, and was an important influence in helping to further centralize and strengthen the administration.

Sources:

From the guide to the Records of the Office of the Chancellor and Executive Vice President (David D. Henry and Carroll V. Newsom, John E. Ivey, Jr., George D. Stoddard, and Russell D. Niles), Bulk, 1952-1956, 1942-1966, (Bulk 1952-1956), (New York University Archives)