University of Connecticut, President's Office Records [Glenn W. Ferguson, 1973-1978]

Glenn W. Ferguson was the ninth President of the University of Connecticut. He served from August 1973 to April 1978. His tenure occurred during a difficult period in the school's history, a period marked by financial retrenchment because of economic recession and inadequate financial support from the state legislature. The University experienced little growth during these years, but it did manage to maintain stability and quality.

A native of Syracuse, New York, Ferguson earned a bachelor's degree in economics and master's degree in business administration at Cornell University and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. From 1961-1969, he held various posts in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, including Director of the Peace Corps from 1962-1964, President of VISTA from 1964-1966, United States Ambassador to Kenya from 1966-1969. In 1969, he was appointed Chancellor of Long Island University, and, from 1970-1973, was President of Clark University. In addition to his administrative posts, he also held a variety of teaching positions from 1969-1971, including Adjunct Professor of Government at Clark University and Professor of Political Science at Long Island University. Ferguson was 44 years old when he assumed the presidency of the University of Connecticut.

Total enrollment at UConn rose only slightly during Ferguson's presidency. In 1974, it cost the average resident UConn student about $2,800 per year to attend the University. By 1978, that amount had risen to $3,400. From 1975 to 1978, a time of severe inflation, the University operating budget grew by approximately thirty million dollars, while state appropriations actually declined by 2 per cent.

Despite a lack of adequate state public support, a number of major advances were made in the University's physical plant during Ferguson's tenure. Ground was broken for a new School of Fine Arts building, and the Psychology, Institute of Materials Science, and Physics buildings were completed. The Co-op bookstore was opened, as was the John N. Dempsey Hospital at the Health Center in Farmington. The crowning achievement was the completion, in 1978, of the new University of Connecticut Library, later renamed the Homer Babbidge Library.

Advances were made, as well, in both academic programs and research. During the 1973-1974 academic year, the Political Science Department created a Masters of Public Affairs degree to meet the growing demand for experts in public service and administration. In that same year, a research team from the School of Medicine announced that its vaccine against meningitis would be marketed nationally by two drug firms.

During the 1976-1977 academic year, the University admitted four students from a pilot group at the Stamford Branch that marked the formal beginning of the Bachelor if General Studies program, a degree program for non-traditional students. A Stamford grandmother was the first recipient of such a degree in 1978. The first annual Day of Pride, an event intended to inspire and encourage minority young people to pursue a college education was also held.

During the 1977-1978 school year, the University and the University of Belgrade launched a hands-across-the-sea collaboration for a scientific and educational exchange program. This was also the year that clinical certification tests of graduate students in speech pathology and audiology indicated that the University's advanced degree programs in these areas ranked in the top ten nationally.

Glenn Ferguson resigned his presidency in April 1978, in order to accept a position as Chief Executive Officer of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Glenn W. Ferguson died at his home in Sante Fe, New Mexico on 20 December 2007.