Arts and Science honors influential former deans

The annual event honors figures who have helped the college develop.

By Brad Fischer

Published Feb. 20, 2007

Five former deans of the College of Arts and Science were honored Friday night in the Reynolds Alumni Center to celebrate the college's centennial.

The college honored the deans by awarding them the Distinguished Service Award.

Dean Michael O'Brien said the five honorees are key to the college's development.

"I have worked under all five," O'Brien said. "They laid the foundation for Arts and Sciences. Every success can be laid at the feet of these five guys."

Armon Yanders, Richard Wallace, Milton Glick, Larry Clark and Richard Schwartz served as deans between 1969 and 2006.

The college has presented the Distinguished Service Awards annually since 1989 to people who have "greatly enhanced the quality of its programs, benefiting students, faculty and alumni," according to the program.

O'Brien and Chancellor Brady Deaton presented the awards.

The celebration concluded Arts and Sciences Week 2007, which included an academic fair, dodge ball tournament and awards receptions.

Yanders served as dean from 1969 to 1982.

He is credited with joining the zoology department and botany departments into the Division of Biological Sciences.

When Yanders left, he became a research director at MU and eventually worked for the U.S. Veterans Administration.

He retired in 1994 but is still director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Program and the Spinal Cord Injuries Research Program. Yanders could not appear to accept his award because of an unexpected illness.

Yanders was succeeded by Wallace, who held the position for 14 months in 1982 and 1983 on an interim basis.

Wallace said the job prepared him for his later posts at MU, including his position as chancellor.

"I don't think I could have done any of those roles without my experience with Arts and Sciences," Wallace said. "Such a short period of service helped me learn so much."

A running theme throughout the night was how interesting, yet challenging, the position of dean is.

"It is the true liberal arts education," Glick said. "You have to try to understand a little bit about a lot of things."

Glick followed Wallace in a permanent capacity.

Glick began a campus-wide writing program that still continues. He also made the decision to put a computer in the office of every faculty member, a revolutionary idea at the time, according to the event program.

Glick said MU has continued to progress since his tenure ended.

"It has grown in quality and impact," Glick said. "We didn't have buildings like this when I was here. MU has put itself on the map."

Glick left in 1988 to take a provost position at Iowa State University.

In August, he was named president of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Clark is noted for his love of theater. He founded the university's Summer Repertory Theater in 1969 and was later chairman of the theater department.

He has served as head of all three national theater education associations.

Clark is also given credit for improving the scientific laboratories before retiring in 1998.

Schwartz was the dean from 1998 to 2006.

He came to MU from Georgetown University where he had served in many roles, most notably as dean of the graduate school. Schwartz continues to teach creative writing at MU.