New York University. Office of the President.

At New York University (NYU) the decade 1964-1974 had witnessed President James M. Hester's ambitious development efforts on behalf of the institution. Important events, including constructing Bobst Library and installing selective admissions requirements, had begun to transform its character. (1) However, by 1972 major external and internal pressures confronted the University, including student protests, rampant inflation, and declining enrollments. (2) The sale of the University's University Heights Campus in the Bronx to the City University that year and the ensuing reorganization at Washington Square brought only temporary relief to the institution's growing deficit.

By 1975 a national recession accompanied by continuing inflation was driving NYU into ever more severe fiscal difficulty. Dr. Hester left the University that year to become Rector of the United Nations University. He was succeeded at NYU by Dr. John Crittenden Sawhill, an economist with a Ph.D. from the University's Graduate School of Business Administration and a career history in both the corporate financial services and management sector and the federal government. Most recently (1974), he had been deputy and then Administrator of the Federal Energy Office, subsequently reorganized as the Federal Energy Administration, a temporary independent executive agency that oversaw, among other initiatives, "Project Independence"--the Nixon Administration's project "to reduce United States reliance on foreign energy sources." He was forced to resign by President Gerald Ford after proposing in a public interview an increase in the federal gasoline tax, a position opposed by the President. (3) In announcing his appointment, NYU Board of Trustees Chairman John M. Schiff cited Sawhill's "demonstrated capacity for managing large institutions and handling their financial affairs." (4)

Upon assuming the NYU Presidency (Acting President beginning June 16, 1975, formally installed as President November 20, 1975), Sawhill found an institution "in the red" with a projected $5 million deficit for the 1975-1976 year. (5) He quickly imposed a set of economy measures including a job freeze and defined as his job "the installation of an effective management system." (6) One notable feature of his efforts was the sale in 1976 of the Law School-owned C.F. Mueller Spaghetti Company, the $115 million proceeds of which, while shared with the Law School, enriched the University's unrestricted endowment by $47.5 million. (7) Another was his attention to long-range planning endeavors (see Box 29, folders 14-20 and Box 30, folders 1-3). A third was his seemingly tireless approaches to corporate contacts and other potential sources of funding for the University (see Box 16, folders 14-15 and Boxes 17-23 inclusive).

The President's emphasis on effective management prompted reorganization of the Board of Trustees (see Box 28, folders 1-3); establishment of an Office of the President and its subsequent restructuring with the departure of the Chancellor in 1977 (see Box 5, folders 7-8); and reorganization of the School of Continuing Education along with recasting of the University Without Walls program into the newly structured Gallatin Division (see Box 69, folders 8-10). In efforts to reduce redundancy in local institutional educational offerings, he promoted programs of academic linkages with Columbia University, the New School and the City University (see Box 2, folders 9-16 and Box 3, folders 1-2) and library linkages with Cooper Union and the New School (see Box 3, folders 3-5).

Sawhill also spoke out publicly on various aspects of higher education (see Box 52, folders 5-7 and Boxes 53-56 inclusive), as well as took part in New York City civic life (see Boxes 8-9 inclusive). Engaged by the concept of "Intellectual life in the City," (see Box 44, folders 14-22 and Box 45, folders 1-5), he championed the creation at NYU of the New York Institute for the Humanities (see Box 73, folders 3-11). With the University's student body in transition (commuter to residential), Dr. Sawhill fostered enhanced student life opportunities through an expanded and reorganized Office of Student Affairs. In this connection, an important public relations decision was to transfer the annual Commencement ceremony from Madison Square Garden to Washington Square Park in 1976 (8). Faculty and clerical staff unionization drives took place as well during this presidency; while a faculty union was voted down (in a second organizing drive), the clerical staff unionization effort resulted in the organization and recognition of a clerical staff union despite the opposition of the University's Central Administration (see Box 39, folders 19-22).

By Spring 1979 Sawhill's emphasis on implementation of new fiscal and management systems, and the progress of a three-year "Leadership" development campaign initiated in 1976 (see Box 23, folder 16), heralded a "new" NYU, and could be construed as the fulfillment of the Trustees' charge to him in 1975. An 11% increase in freshman applications for Fall 1979, progress in undergraduate curriculum revision, and a set of school-by-school long range plans for academic excellence were also in the picture (see Box 5, folder 9).

In September 1979 Sawhill took a year's leave of absence from the University, returning to Washington, D.C., to assume the post of Deputy Secretary of Energy in President Jimmy Carter's Cabinet. He had maintained his strong interest in energy-related national and international policy issues while at NYU, speaking out through remarks, speeches, papers and interviews (see Box 42 inclusive, Box 43, folders 1-2, Boxes 57-59, part of Box 78, Box 79, and part of Box 80). He did not return to NYU, resigning the following year, and becoming, briefly, chief executive of the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Sawhill reentered the corporate sector early in 1981, where he remained until assuming the presidency of The Nature Conservancy in 1990. John Crittenden Sawhill died May 18, 2000 at the age of 63. (9)

Sources:

From the guide to the Records of the Office of the President (John Crittenden Sawhill), Bulk, 1975-1979, 1974-1981, (New York University Archives)

The Office of the President is the top administrative office and is responsible for the management of the entire University structure. The duties of the President included the development, implementation, and monitoring of University activities, the cultivation of outreach programs, and the promotion of University activities to prospective donors and to the general public.

During the years 1951-1965, Acting Chancellor James L. Madden, Chancellor/President Henry T. Heald, President Carroll V. Newsom, and President James M. Hester served as chief administrators of New York University. The title of the position was changed from Chancellor to President in 1956, indicative of the concerns during the 1950s with administrative reorganization.

On January 1, 1951, James L. Madden was appointed Acting Chancellor and served in that position for a little over a year. Henry T. Heald was elected Chancellor effective February 1, 1952, and created two new positions during his few months in office: the Executive Vice Chancellor, who assumed the duties of the discontinued Provost's office and became the chief education officer of New York University, and the Vice Chancellor for University Development, who became responsible for the organization and coordination of University fundraising efforts. At this time, a Public Relations Department was also established, which encompassed three new departments: the Office of Publication and Printing, the Office of Information Services, and the Office of Radio and Television. In 1955 Heald added the positions of Director of the Budget, Dean of Admissions and Registrar to the list of general administrative officers and created the post of Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs later that same year.

On December 16, 1955, the New York State Board of Regents amended the University charter, forcing a number of terminology changes. The supreme governing board of the University, known since the University's founding as the University Council, became the Board of Trustees as of December 16, 1955. The title of the chief executive of the University was changed from Chancellor to President on July 1, 1956. On March 26, 1956, the Board of Trustees adopted a measure providing for an Executive Vice President who would be a general advisor to the President and perform duties in the President's absence. The Executive Vice President was to be assisted by the Director for the University Budget and the Assistant Director of the Budget for Research Service.

On September 26, 1956, Heald resigned, and Executive Vice President Carroll V. Newsom became President on October 1, 1956. Newsom instituted a number of structural changes in the administration of the University in 1957. The Office of Dean of Admissions and Registrar was split to form the Office of Dean of Registration and Financial Aid and the Office of Director of Admissions. Both of these posts were additions to the Office of Executive Vice President. The Office of the Vice President for University Relations was created to disseminate information about University programs and to promote rapport between New York University, its personnel, and the general public. The Vice President would be aided by the Director of University Publications and the Offices of Information Services, Radio and Television, and Photographic Services. On January 25, 1960, an action by the Board of Trustees changed the title of the Executive Vice President to Chancellor/Vice President. No change of duties accompanied this change in name.

President Newsom resigned on September 25, 1961, to be succeeded by James M. Hester on January 1, 1962. The structural order created by previous administrations was preserved by President Hester.

Apart from these changes in administrative structure, the Office of the President was also subject to prominent developments in the content of its executive concern. These developments can be categorized as: 1) educational needs; 2) physical plans; 3) financial needs and resources; and 4) organizational structure.

In the educational area, the ideology of the University as an educational institution came under detailed scrutiny during the the 1950s. A self-study, begun in 1952, and a mission project, initiated a decade later, clearly indicate an ideological concern. One reason may have been that public universities in the metropolitan area were challenging NYU's role as "University of Opportunity."

In the area of physical plans, Chancellor Heald embarked on a ten-year schedule of development in New York University's physical plant and facilities in 1952. President Hester, at the beginning of his tenure in office, announced a second step in the all-University modernization program begun in the previous decade under Chancellor Chase.

Financially, the challenge to the University was both ideological and financial because many students preferred publicly supported colleges to the higher tuition rates of New York University. Also, the program of building development required significant allocation of financial resources, which necessitated requests for grants such as one from the Ford Foundation in 1955 and again, as a result of the mission project, in 1963.

Finally, changes in the organizational structure of the University was of significant and contentious. Before Chancellor Heald's administration, the University was essentially a loose collection of quasi-autonomous schools. A process of centralization began in 1952 and greatly enhanced President Hester's power, especially at the beginning of his term of office. The change stirred discontent among the faculty and university administration.

Sources:

From the guide to the Records of the Office of the President/Chancellor, 1951-1965, (New York University Archives)