The Samuel H. Smith Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE), a $32 million, five-story, 94,000 square-foot building, opened in early 2002 as a hub for student-centered and active learning. The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, the WSU Writing Program, General Education Program, and the Student Computing Services Lab are all housed in the building along with 20 classrooms of various sizes. The building was named for WSU’s eighth President, Samuel H. Smith, who served from 1989-2000.
Herbert Eastlick, a devoted mentor and self-described “taskmaster and autocrat in the classroom” who taught at WSU for 33 years, passed from complications to Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 94. Eastlick came to then-WSC in 1940 as an assistant professor in zoology from the University of Chicago where he earlier became acquaintances with President Holland. He was chairman of the Department of Zoology from 1947 to 1964 and chaired the Faculty Executive Committee in 1955-56.
He also helped create WSU’s nationally ranked Honors Program and presented the University’s eighth Faculty Invited Address on his research in 1961. In 1979 the new Eastlick Biological Sciences Building was dedicated in honor of the Herbert and his wife Margaret Eastlick.
Ralph Yount, a distinguished chemist and Regents Professor Emeritus, receives first WSU Eminent Faculty Award, granted for distinguished lifetime service at WSU. His research was funded through National Institutes of Health without interruption for 40 years, one of the longest continually funded projects at NIH.
President Elson S. Floyd announces WSU will hold “town hall” meetings in each of Washington state’s 39 counties starting in March to hear from stakeholders and discuss initiatives.
LeRoy Ashby, the Claudius O. and Mary Johnson Distinguished Professor of History and a Regents professor, receives the WSU President’s Award for Lifetime Service.
Travis McGuire, professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, received the WSU President’s Award for Distinguished Lifetime Service.
WSU Spokane Chancellor Rom Markin received the first WSU President’s Award for Distinguished Lifetime Service. His WSU service included 15 years as the dean of the College of Business and Economics.
170 incoming students in total will be named as the first Glenn Terrell Presidential Scholars and Distinguished Presidential Scholars in advance of the 1987-1988 school year.
President Holland falls ill in early January and for several months runs the school from his bed in St. Luke’s Hospital in Spokane. When he leaves for an April to August recuperative trip to the eastern U.S. and Canada, Holland and the Regents appoint Dean Herbert Kimbrough to act on his behalf, and on Oct. 2nd Kimbrough is made the school’s first Vice President.
Elson S. Floyd was named tenth president of Washington State University on December 13, 2006 and took office on May 21, 2007. A native of Henderson, North Carolina, President Floyd holds a doctor of philosophy degree in higher education and most recently served as the president of the four-campus University of Missouri system.
The Board of Regents selects V. Lane Rawlins to serve as the ninth president of WSU. He took office after serving as the president at University of Memphis. Rawlins was the first WSU faculty member to become president. He joined the economics faculty in 1968, later served as chair of the department of economics, and was WSU vice provost from 1982-86.
President Rawlins’ administration is best known for strengthening the WSU-UW relationship, giving the WSU branch campuses more autonomy, establishing December commencement, and Academic Showcase. He served as president until June 2007.
On March 7, 1985, the Board of Regents selected Samuel H. Smith to serve as the eighth president of Washington State University. He took office on July 1, leaving his position as the dean of the College of Agriculture and director of both the Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station at Pennsylvania State University.
President Smith’s administration is best known for the establishment of the WSU branch campuses in Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver in 1989. In 1997 Smith chaired the NCAA Presidents Commission, the major governing body for college intercollegiate athletics. Smith served as president until January 8, 2000.
The Samuel H. Smith Center for Undergraduate Education, also known as the CUE, was named in his honor.
President French and Regent Tom Gose visited WSU’s program in Pakistan, one of the first international programs helping developing countries with land grant assistance. French also visited Pakistan in 1956 and 1964.
President French with Pakistan President Ayub Khan in 1962 during one of French’s visits to Pakistan
Research Studies of the State College of Washington provides an avenue to publication for faculty and graduate students. The journal publishes a few issues before funding is cut due to the Great Depression. It is revived in 1935 and eventually becomes the WSU Press.
In the summer of 1936, Randall Johnson, a fine arts student at Washington State College, was hired as a sign painter by Fred Rounds, director of Buildings and Grounds. Johnson’s job was to paint door numbers and names on buildings around campus.
One day, Rounds mentioned to Johnson that the college needed a trademark. After that, Johnson designed the first WSC cougar logo, which appeared on the door of a college truck.
When the college became a university in 1959, President French asked Johnson to revise the logo, changing the “C” to a “U”.
In 1962, WSU archeologists Richard Daugherty and Roald Fryxell began excavating the Marmes Rockshelter, near where the Snake and Palouse rivers meet. During the excavation, they found what was then the oldest human remains in the western hemisphere at approximately 12,000 years old.
The site was scheduled to be flooded during the construction of the Lower Monumental Dam, but thanks to the discovery President Lyndon Johnson authorized the construction of a coffer dam to protect it. Unfortunately, in 1969, the site was flooded anyway because of leaks under the dam. It had only been partially excavated.
On February 24, 1967, the Board of Regents selected Glenn Terrell to serve as the seventh president of Washington State University. Terrell took office on July 1, leaving his position as the dean of faculties at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
In addition to his positive relationships with faculty, President Terrell was known as the “student’s president.” He would walk from the President’s House to his campus office, stopping to talk with students, faculty, and staff on the way. He served as president until 1985. The Terrell Library and the Glenn Terrell Friendship Mall, the area in the center of campus, are named after President Terrell.
President French announced his retirement on his 65th birthday, October 24, 1966, but had actually notified the Regents in the spring of 1965. The Regents officially accepted his resignation in their May 31,1965 meeting. French stayed to provide stability while he selected his successor.
On February 24, 1952, the Board of Regents selected C. Clement French to serve as the sixth president of Washington State University. He took the office April of that year, combining his inauguration with commencement.
President French was known as a pragmatist and diplomat. His administration is well known for the increase in enrollment and for building a better relationship with the University of Washington. French served as president until 1966. In 1968 the French Administration Building was named in his honor.
On August 21, 1944, the Board of Regents selected Wilson M. Compton to serve as the fifth president. Compton accepted the position in October, leaving his position as an administrator and lobbyist for the lumber industry in Washington D.C.
President Compton’s administration is well known for equalizing teaching loads, allowing faculty time for research, allowing students to declare majors after freshmen year, and establishing modern budgeting system. Compton served as president through 1951. The Compton Student Union Building (CUB) was dedicated to him after its construction.
The new president is 41, a former instructor in the English department at Indiana University who is serving as superintendent of schools in Louisville, Kentucky, when he is hired by the college.
Holland goes on to become the longest serving of WSU’s presidents. He reorganizes the administrative structure of the institution, establishing five colleges and four schools, a key step in the college’s pursuit of university status. He also encourages the recruitment of national fraternities and sororities to Pullman and signs an agreement with students to ease conservative social rules.
Holland serves as president until 1945. Holland Library is named in his honor after its construction in 1950.
The Board of Regents grants the president 3 months of sick leave to recover. He returns to campus feeling refreshed from his first extended vacation since arriving in Pullman in 1893. The incident forces Bryan to realize he needs to share major administrative responsibilities, so he appoints faculty member O.L. Waller as his first vice president.
The state legislature approves changing the name of Washington Agricultural College and School of Science to State College of Washington in recognition of the college’s expanding mission. President Bryan has worked tirelessly to fend off political forces that were trying to limit the college’s offering to just agriculture and science. The president believes students need to study liberal arts and science as well as professional fields to be more effective leaders.
Bryan leaves his position as president of Vincennes University in Indiana to become the third president of the fledging institution on the Palouse, beginning a 22-year tenure as its leader.
One of the most influential of WSU’s presidents, President Bryan believes that students must study liberal arts and sciences as well as basic professional skills to become better leaders. He pushs to have the college renamed the State College of Washington and to expand its academic offerings. Early in his presidency, President Bryan operates with no staff: he personally manages enrollment, record keeping, public relations, and parent relations—on top of teaching history and political economics.
In 1916, Bryan Hall is named in the president’s honor. The building’s clock tower, which glows crimson at night, is one of the most iconic landmarks on the Pullman campus.
The Board of Regents ends the tenure of the president after just eight and a half months on the job. Charles Munn, one of the first six faculty members, also leaves in the wake of political turmoil. The position of Chair of Veterinary Science is abolished.
Students pelt Heston with rotten cabbages, plucked from icy fields nearby, as well as eggs and snowballs, marring the day he is introduced as president. The president of the Board of Regents, Andrew Smith, is also pelted as he walks with Heston across campus. The new president spends more time in Olympia and Seattle than tending to campus matters, fueling accusations around the state about unruliness in Pullman.
From the first issue of The College Record, the predecessor to The Daily Evergreen, absolving former-President Liley for any involvement in the attack on Heston
