Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1988 [PAGE 227]

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1987]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

The 16 years of the Henry presidency at the University of Illinois were a fine blend of interpreting the University's past while also building toward the University's future. David Henry defined a new harmony between the University of Illinois and the society it serves. Nearly 16 years have passed since his retirement front the presidency, and yet, in the main, the course he set remains the course we travel today. David Henry's vision for the future of the University of Illinois was to provide programs of the highest quality in response to the needs of society and the times in which we live. Universities should be characterized, he said, by "resilience in dealing with new institutional ideas; a spirit for experimentation, a capacity for innovation, and a continuing search for improvement." David Dodds Henry taught us that a university never seeks the finishing touch. A great university evolves; it yearns to be better, and it constantly seeks to construct strong new pillars grounded upon old and firm foundations. In doing all of this, David Henry was not timid in telling Illinois and America there was a price. A quarter-century ago, David Henry said, "Everyone must get into the act to make America aware of education's top place in the list of priorities. We need the help of every person who has a stake in higher education — professional men and women, business people, homemakers, political leaders, civic agencies. It's going to take a concerted effort on the part of everybody to help us recruit able students, keep able teachers, and turn out able graduates." Although 25 years old, those words could just as easily appear tomorrow on the editorial pages of the Tribune, the Sun-Times or the News-Gazette. David Henry gave a vision of learning and hope to the people of Illinois and America. He served on three national commissions: the President's Committee on Education Beyond the High School; the Carnegie Commission on the Future of Higher Education; and the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television. H e was one of only a few educators to head each of the most influential national organizations in higher education: the American Council on Education; the Association of American Universities; the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; the National Commission on Accrediting; and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. In each case, his leadership of these national organizations marked a period of new achievement. He guided each group and, therefore, our nation through special circumstances. He created a new harmony with the times. In the end, education in America was a better, more effective instrument in shaping the character and meeting the needs of our nation and its people. A leader must dream dreams to make the world a better place. David Dodds Henry dreamed big dreams. He gave us extraordinary leadership during his years in the presidency. His distinctive imprint on American education and the University of Illinois remains strong and apparent. On behalf of the University community, our alumni and friends, and our faculty and students, I wish to pay tribute to Dr. Henry. In lasting recognition of David Dodds Henry's service to Illinois and our nation, I wish to announce my intent to recommend to the Board of Trustees that the name of the Administration Building on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign be changed to become, henceforth, the David Dodds Henry Administration Building. I have every reason to believe the trustees will receive this recommendation with the same great pleasure I make it.