Akron, Ohio, July 21, 2003 — Dr. Norman P. Auburn, 98, president of The University of Akron from 1951 through 1971, died July 21, 2003.
As the University's 10th president, Auburn directed the institution's transformation from a municipal university with 3,500 students to a comprehensive, state-supported university with an enrollment of more than 18,000. Because of those significant changes that he engineered at the University, Auburn is regarded as one of its three founders. In a fitting tribute, the University's Science and Engineering Center is named in Auburn's honor.
"The University of Akron has today lost one of its greatest presidents and its most significant founder in the 20th century," said current UA President Luis M. Proenza. "Dr. Auburn remained steadfastly involved in the University's activities and committed to its immense promise. He was a great friend to all and a strong supporter of the new goals and horizons that were set during the past few years. He will be missed."
"President Auburn was the right person at the right time when he assumed presidency of the University," said his successor, Dr. Dominic J. Guzzetta, who served from 1971 to 1984. "He took a small institution and made it into a major player in higher education. Each of his successors has been able to build upon a quality operation for which he was responsible. The name Auburn will long be remembered on campus as one of the stalwarts of the institution."
Dr. Marion A. Ruebel, president from 1996 through 1998 and faculty member for 32 years, said that Auburn had a tremendous feel for what the Akron area needed from the University. "I think the Evening College and the University College were two of his greatest accomplishments. I know of many people who were able to earn their degrees because of those programs. Under Dr. Auburn, The University of Akron served the immediate community very well. It still does today."
Auburn's 20-year tenure presidency is the longest of any University of Akron president, and his additional accomplishments on campus during that period include:
- Establishing the University's School of Law, the College of Business Administration, the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the College of Nursing, and the Community and Technical College, thereby increasing its academic offerings dramatically.
- Creating the Institute for Rubber Research, which has evolved into the nationally ranked College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering.
- Granting of the University's first doctoral degree.
- Overseeing the physical transformation of the Akron campus, including the construction of Memorial Hall, Kolbe Hall and the University's first modern residence halls since the early 1900s, as well as the nation's first university-sponsored urban renewal project, which created Lee R. Jackson Field.
- Leading the initiative to create the University's branch campus, Wayne College, in Orrville.
- And, conducting the University's first major fund-raising campaign, the Challenge '70 Capital Campaign, which helped to finance the building of E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall.
Auburn held many professional positions concurrent with his presidency. He was adviser to:
- the President's Committee for the White House Conference on Education,
- special assistant for university relations for the U.S. State Department's Agency for International Development,
- director and acting president of the Council for Financial Aid to Education Inc., and
- president of the Ohio College Association, the Association of Urban Universities and the Association of University Evening Colleges, among others.
After his retirement from the University in 1971 as its president emeritus, Auburn shared his expertise as a top executive in higher education by serving as an acting senior executive of colleges and universities throughout the United States. Auburn also remained active in community and philanthropic organizations nationwide. In addition to being director and president of the Herman Muehlstein Foundation in New York, he served as a board member for the Charles and Mabel Ritchie Memorial Foundation, the Ohio Research and Development Foundation, the Lake Erie Watershed Conservation Foundation and the Manor Foundation, as well as Charter One Financial, Inc. Auburn received the Akron Community Foundation's Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award in 1997.
Born in Cincinnati on May 22, 1905, Auburn earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati, where he later worked for 18 years in a variety of capacities. Auburn rose to the position of vice president and dean of university administration at the University of Cincinnati before leaving to join The University of Akron.
Auburn's son, Mark, is dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at The University of Akron.
A University memorial service is being planned.