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Republican campaign finance chairman, biochemist receive the fourth and fifth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Awards

J. Clifford Folger, Nixon’s 1960 campaign finance chairman and member of the board of directors of IBM, and C. Glenn King, one of the two biochemists to isolate vitamin C, are selected for the fourth and fifth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Awards. Folger receives his award on June 3, 1963; King on April 11, 1964.

Folger receiving award
Folger receiving award
King receiving his award.
King receiving his award.

Arthur Drucker, Dean of the School of Mines and Geology, donates the Minnie Barstow Drucker Oriental Art Collection to WSC

Arthur Drucker, Dean of the School of Mines and Geology, donates the Minnie Barstow Drucker Oriental Art Collection, valued then at $50,000. The gift is presented in the memory of his late wife. Eight years earlier, the Druckers donated a collection of over two hundred rare books on Asia to the WSC library. Arthur Drucker came to Pullman in 1926 and was heavily involved in mining research during his tenure at WSC, retiring in 1945.

 

Dean Drucker

Weldon B. “Hoot” Gibson graduates with a B.A. in economics

Weldon B. “Hoot” Gibson graduates with a B.A. in Economics. Gibson attended WSC with the help of his Uncle, Arthur “Buck” Bailey, and was a member of the football team and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After graduating from WSC, Gibson studied at the Stanford Graduate School of Business receiving an MBA in 1940 and a Ph.D. in 1950. Gibson was a long-time executive at the Stanford Research Institute from 1947 until 1988. He earned the Legion of Merit in 1946, Commander of the British Empire in 1947, and the Washington State University Distinguished Alumni Award for his role in creating the Washington State University Foundation.

 

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Herbert Kimbrough serves as Assistant to the President after Dr. Holland takes ill

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 named tenth president of WSU

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

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.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lewis Alumni Centre opens

The Alumni Centre opens in the name of benefactors Jack and Ann Lewis. It was part of a $50 million construction initiative on the Pullman campus, which included the Chemistry Building and the Food Science and Human Nutrition Building.

In 1985, Jack and Ann Lewis pledged $1 million toward the new facility. In 1991, the Lewis Alumni Centre dedicates a library in honor of Phillip and June Lighty, the Past President’s Room in honor of Henry and Anna Magnuson Reaugh, and the Reception Gallery for Weldon “Hoot” Gibson. In 1994, the Lewis Alumni Center completes its fifth year of operation and hosts 150,000 visitors and 1,500 meetings.

 

 

 

Samuel H. Smith named eighth president of WSU

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.

 

 

First commencement held at Beasley Coliseum

The recently constructed Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum opened for hosting the 1973 commencement ceremonies. In previous years, commencement ceremonies had been held either in Bohler Gym or, weather permitting, at Rogers Field (now Martin Stadium).

 

Beasley_Performing_Arts_Coliseum

WSU president and regent visit WSU program in Pakistan

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 French's visit to Pakistan
President French with Pakistan President Ayub Khan in 1962 during one of French’s visits to Pakistan

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WSU imports temporary buildings to house returning soldier students

Post-WWII construction at WSC was marked by the importing of many temporary buildings to handle the boom of returning soldier students. Many of these buildings came from the Farragut Naval Training Station near Coeur d’Alene, ID while others came from Vancouver, WA. These buildings were torn down by the mid 1990s.

 

South Hall
South House

 

North House
North House

 

Pioneer Hall (West House)
Pioneer Hall (West House)

 

East House
East House

 

Spillman Hall
Spillman Hall

 

Psychology Building (Old Education Building)
Psychology Building (Old Education Building)

 

Stadium Commons
Stadium Commons

President Holland establishes a faculty and graduate student journal

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.

WSC art student, Randall Johnson, creates the first cougar head logo

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”.

 

 

Silver Lake, also known as Lake de Puddle, is drained

A fondly remembered place on campus, Silver Lake, also known as Lake de Puddle, was drained in summer of 1927. This made way for Hollingbery Fieldhouse and Mooberry Track. The manmade lake became part of the college in 1899, and shortly after the creation of the 1.6-acre lake, Professor Balmer from the School of Forestry directed the transplanting to the site of some 6,000 trees and shrubs to create “The Tanglewood”, a dense thicket offering a private retreat for students.

Boating on Silver Lake
Boating on Silver Lake

Conner Museum named after Regent who kickstarted it

In November of 1893, Board of Regents chair Charles R. Conner persuades the state and others to donate their exhibits from the Chicago World’s Fair to the fledgling Washington Agricultural College. In 1914, the museum is officially named after Conner. As the collection evolves in the following years it focuses on vertebrate mammals. Now housed in Abelson Hall, the Conner Museum displays 700 specimens, with more than 65,000 in its research library.

RaccoonSkel

The Administration Building opens

The dedication of the Administration Building, known today as Thompson Hall, serves as a tangible sign of the college’s growth under President Bryan’s leadership. The regents describe the building as ”an excellent piece of work and one that in point of convenience, strength, and architectural beauty compares with any state building.” Built with granite quarried from Spokane and brick from clay deposits near Stevens Hall, the building’s two large contrasting towers make it one of the campus’s most distinctive landmarks.

 

Administration_Building_Thompson_Hall_1908

Construction of the first building, “The Crib,” begins

The one story brick structure (located where the Terrell Library now sits) houses agricultural and biology laboratories and a museum. The facility is absorbed as part of a new gymnasium, later known as the Temporary Union Building, or TUB, in 1901.

Crib_ca_1896

WSU archaeologists discover 12,000-year-old human remains

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.

 

Glenn Terrell named seventh president of WSU

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.

Frances Penrose Owen named to the Board of Regents

Frances Penrose Owen is the first women named to the Board of Regents, she served for 18 years and was twice elected president. The Owen Science and Engineering Library is named in her honor. Owen was a life-long community volunteer, serving the boards of both the Seattle Childrens Hospital and the Seattle School Board. In 1990, Owen receives the Medal of Merit, the state’s highest award.  Frances Penrose Owen passed away on March 9, 2002 in Seattle.  She was 102.masc-ua333b82f04_undated1

C. Clement French named sixth president of WSU

 

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.