Former UMass president, Lederle, dead at 94

The Daily Collegian - 2/16/07

Former University of Massachusetts president John W. Lederle, 94, passed away earlier this week. Lederle, who expanded UMass'' once small agricultural campus into the major research university it is known today, died on Feb. 13, 2007.Monday.

Lederle''s term as president of UMass brought the addition of almost 50 new buildings, tripled student enrollment, and quadrupled operating budget and faculty positions.,

""The entire University of Massachusetts community is saddened to learn of the death of former UMass President John W. Lederle. His leadership…brought growth and expansion to… [UMass] Amherst. The university''s current strength as a national educational and research leader is a tribute to his commitment to the University of Massachusetts decades ago,"" said current UMass president Jack M. Wilson. Wilson is quoted as saying by a press release from the UMass Amherst Office of News & Information.

Included in the programs started during Lederle''s tenure are overseas programs in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and England, the Committee for the Collegiate Education of Black Students, the Polymer Research Institute, and collaboration among the five colleges, according to a press release issued by the UMass News Office.. Also included in his legacy to the campus are a public radio station and the university press.

Always a man of education, Lederle earned his bachelor''s, master''s, law degree, and doctorate at the University of Michigan. Following his success as a student, he worked at Brown University as an assistant dean and professor of political science from 1941 to- 1944. Upon returning to the University of Michigan in 1944, Lederle occupied many different academic roles. In 1960, Lederle was inaugurated president of the University of Massachusetts.UMass.

During his time at UMass, among his many accomplishments, Lederle received honorary doctorates from Boston University, Northeastern University, Holy Cross College, Lowell State College, Hokkaido University in Japan, and Amherst College.

Not solely involved in the UMass campus, betweenBetween 1958 and 1986, Lederle also served as a member of various committees and boards. Included in his civic career, Lederle served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Clarke School for the Deaf, a member of the executive committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, member of the Board of Trustees of Hampshire College chairman of the Advisory Commission of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, and chairman of the National Conference of Directors of Bureaus of Government Research.

In 2005, Lederle reflected that he was very proud of gaining an increase in state funding for UMass during his term as its president.

""Our progress in the 1960s meant going to the governor and the legislature year after year with larger and larger budget requests for construction and facility expansion, not only in Amherst, but later in Boston and the UMass medical school in Worcester. Once, the Senate president in my presence remarked, I hope facetiously, that I had taken more money out of the state treasury than any other man in history,"" Lederle was quoted as saying inby the press release.

The Lederle Graduate Research Center, dedicated to him in 1983, best represents the monumental changes Lederle brought with him in 1960 to the UMass campus. His commitment to excellence and education can still be seen anywhere on campus today.