A. Leroy Greason | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 12thPresident of Bowdoin College | |
| In office 1981–1990 | |
| Preceded by | Willard F. Enteman |
| Succeeded by | Robert Hazard Edwards |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 13,1922 Newport,Rhode Island |
| Died | August 28,2011 (aged 88) Brunswick,Maine |
| Alma mater | Wesleyan University Harvard University |
Arthur LeRoy Greason,Jr. (born September 13,1922 [1] - August 28,2011) [2] was the twelfth president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick,Maine,serving from 1981 to 1990.
A native of Newport,Rhode Island,Greason graduated from Wesleyan University in 1944 as both a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the president of Wesleyan's student government. He subsequently attended Harvard University to earn his master's and doctorate degrees,and taught at both Wesleyan and Harvard. [3]
Greason began his Bowdoin career in 1952 as an instructor in English,becoming a full professor in 1966 with a specialty in 18th-century English literature. Greason served as both dean of students and dean of the college before stepping down in 1975 to return to full-time teaching. Nevertheless,five years later,following the departure of President Willard F. Enteman,Greason was asked to serve as acting president. In the fall of 1981,he became the third faculty member at Bowdoin to become President of the College.
During Greason's presidency,the college expanded its full-time teaching faculty from 100 to 125 and launched and successfully completed a $56 million capital campaign,the Campaign for Bowdoin. Additionally,the college constructed the Farley Field House,the Bowdoin College Swimming Pool,and the Campus Mall,which transformed the cross-campus access road into a pedestrian-friendly mall with an open-air stage,in response to concerns about through-traffic and parking hazards along that route. [4] Construction on the Hatch Science Library also began.
Greason's curricular achievements included reinstating the course distribution requirements Bowdoin had abolished in 1970,establishing its Department of Computer Science,and instituting its Arctic Studies,Asian Studies and Women's Studies programs. In 1987,Greason asked a special panel to decide whether fraternities should be abolished at Bowdoin. His successor,Robert Hazard Edwards,ultimately effected that change.
Greason received honorary degrees from his alma mater,Wesleyan University,and from Bates College,Colby College,the University of New England,and the University of Maine at Presque Isle. After retiring from Bowdoin's presidency in 1990,the college "awarded him a Doctor of Humane Letters." [5]
Following Greason's death at age 88,Bowdoin College President Barry Mills remembered him as follows on Bowdoin's website:“During his 10-year presidency,he expanded and strengthened academic offerings,increased the size and diversity of the faculty,and established strong ties between the college,alumni and the community... His greatest gift was his ability to find common ground among disparate people and to inspire them to work together. Bowdoin is a stronger,more humane place because of his service.” [6]
The Bowdoin College Swimming Pool was renamed the LeRoy Greason Pool in his memory. The pool has hosted NESCAC and NCAA Championship events,and Olympic swimmers have trained along its sixteen 25-yard deep-water lanes. [7]
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville,Maine. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution,it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner Colby saw the institution renamed again to Colby University before settling on its current title,reflecting its liberal arts college curriculum,in 1899. Approximately 2,000 students from more than 60 countries are enrolled annually. The college offers 54 major fields of study and 30 minors.
Bowdoin College is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick,Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794,Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 35 majors and 40 minors,as well as several joint engineering programs with Columbia,Caltech,Dartmouth College,and the University of Maine.
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts university in Middletown,Connecticut,United States. It was founded in 1831 as a men's college under the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown. It is currently a secular institution.
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The Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB) is an athletic conference and academic consortium between three private liberal arts colleges in the U.S. State of Maine. The group consists of Colby College in Waterville,Bates College in Lewiston,and Bowdoin College in Brunswick. In allusion to the Big Three of the Ivy League,Colby,Bates,and Bowdoin,are collectively known the "Maine Big Three",a play on words with the words "Maine" and "main". The school names are ordered by their geographical organization in Maine.
The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland,Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities,Gorham Normal School and Portland University. The two universities,later known as Gorham State College and the University of Maine at Portland,were combined in 1970 to help streamline the public university system in Maine and eventually expanded by adding the Lewiston campus in 1988.
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Southwestern University is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown,Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840,Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwestern offers 40 bachelor's degrees in the arts,sciences,fine arts,and music as well as interdisciplinary and pre-professional programs. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the National Association of Schools of Music and historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
Alpha Rho Upsilon was a fraternity at Bowdoin College in Brunswick,Maine,from 1946 until it was disbanded in 1990. Until then it occupied a late Victorian wood-frame house at 238 Maine Street.
Charles Wilbert "Bill" Snow was an American poet,educator and politician. He served as the 75th Governor of Connecticut. He generally went by the name Wilbert or Bill Snow,or formally as C. Wilbert Snow.
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Roger Howell Jr. was the tenth president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick,Maine,and the fourth to be an alumnus of the college.
James Stacy Coles was the ninth president of Bowdoin College.
Robert Hazard Edwards is an American educator who was the seventh president of Carleton College and the thirteenth president of Bowdoin College.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowdoin College,located in Brunswick,Maine. The Polar Bears compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Bowdoin College currently fields teams in fourteen men's sports and sixteen women's sports. The polar bear team name was selected to honor Robert Peary of the class of 1877 who lead the first expedition that reached the North Pole.
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The traditions of Bates College include the activities,songs,and academic regalia of Bates College,a private liberal arts college in Lewiston,Maine. They are well known on campus and nationally as an embedded component of the student life at the college and its history.
Alpha Delta Phi Society, also known as The Society or Adelphi Society, is a United States Greek-letter literary and social society that is gender-inclusive. The society formed in 1992 when four chapters withdrew from the all-male Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Legally,the two groups are separate entities with different ideologies but continue to share traditions.