James J. Stukel | |
|---|---|
 Stukel in 2004 | |
| 15th President of the University of Illinois system | |
| In office August 1 1995 –January 31, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Stanley O. Ikenberry |
| Succeeded by | B. Joseph White |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 30,1937 Joliet,Illinois,U.S. |
| Education | |
| Profession | |
James J. Stukel (born March 30, 1937) is an American former educator who served as the 15th president of the University of Illinois system.
James Stukel was born on March 30, 1937, in Joliet, Illinois, to Philip and Julia Stukel. [1] [2] James and his sole sibling, a sister 13 years older than he was, had a modest upbringing. His father, a pulp mill worker, and his mother, a homemaker, maintained a small, clapboard house. While neither of his parents had more than an eighth grade education, Stukel would say of them, "my father had a real gift for numbers. He could do things in his head that were remarkable, and my mother was extremely sharp until the day she died...they were...bright." [2] His parents began to save for his college education soon after his birth. [2]
Stukel's parents instilled in him a strong work ethic. He would later say, "they were pretty stern regarding my grades and homework...and I always worked." [2] In third grade, he joined the school band. He would practice three to five hours each day on his saxophone. Of his band experience, he said, "nothing was given; it was earned." [2] He would credit his band experiences to force him to set goals. According to Stukel, his "whole life...is based around competition and goal setting." [2]
In junior high, Stukel started a paper route to earn income. In high school, he entered into student politics and was elected junior class president. His opponent would later remark that he was a "class act" and an "outstanding student and quiet leader." [2]
A high school chemistry teacher, recognizing Stukel's potential in engineering, drove him to visit Purdue University. He would later joke, "the University of Illinois wasn't in his vocabulary, but he took over the decision-making process." [2] Stukel enrolled at Purdue and joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. To help pay for school, he played saxophone with his dance band, The Spotlighters. The band played music from Woody Herman, Stan Getz, and other jazz artists. During the summer, Stukel would play at resorts. [2]
It was at Purdue that Stukel met his wife Joan Helpling, a majorette with the Purdue marching band. The two toured Europe as members of a variety band. They would marry during their senior years. Stukel would later comment on his wife, "I [have] been...lucky in that I have a very supportive wife who...influenced the way I developed...in...positive ways." [2] Stukel graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Purdue shortly after his marriage. The couple then moved to Virginia. [2]
Stukel earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
After the completion of his Ph.D., Stukel joined the faculty of the Engineering College. He rose to the level of Associate Dean before transferring to the University of Illinois at Chicago. While there, he served in a variety of administrative capacities, assuming the roles of the Vice-Chancellor for Research, the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and finally, Chancellor of the campus.
After his four-year tenure as chancellor, Stukel was selected as president of the University of Illinois system by the UI Board of Trustees. He served in this capacity for approximately 10 years (1995–2005) and was succeeded by B. Joseph White.
A residence hall at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the James Stukel Towers, was named after the former president.
Herman B Wells, a native of Boone County, Indiana, was the eleventh president of Indiana University Bloomington and its first university chancellor. He was pivotal in the transformation of Indiana University from a small, locally oriented college into a world-class institution of higher learning through expanded enrollment, recruitment of new faculty, construction of new buildings, new program offerings, and campus beautification projects. He remained steadfast in his support of IU's faculty and students, especially in the areas of academic freedom and civil rights. Wells began his career in banking, but served the university in a variety of faculty and administrative capacities during his seventy-year career at IU Bloomington: instructor and assistant professor, department of economics (1930–35; dean and professor of administration, school of business administration ; acting president ; and president. He gave up control in 1962 to become university chancellor ; interim president ; and chairman of the board of the Indiana University Foundation, as well as other leadership roles at the IU Foundation.
Martin Charles Jischke (JIS-key) is an American higher-education administrator and advocate who was the tenth president of Purdue University.
Winthrop Ellsworth Stone was a professor of chemistry and served as the president of Purdue University from 1900–1921.
The Purdue "All-American" Marching Band is the marching band of Purdue University and performs at Purdue Boilermakers football games. The AAMB is also the official band of the Indianapolis 500 race, having held the position since 1919.
Arthur Gene "Art" Hansen was a philanthropist and former chancellor of several American universities.
Jack Royce Woolf was an American academic who arrived at Arlington State College in 1957 as dean of the college. After one year as dean, the Texas A&M Board appointed him acting president in 1958 and president in 1959. In 1967, upon the university leaving the Texas A&M System for the University of Texas System and with the accompanying name change, Woolf became president of The University of Texas at Arlington. Woolf resigned the presidency in 1968, but continued service to the university until 1989.
George Edwin Mueller, was an American electrical engineer who was an associate administrator at NASA, heading the Office of Manned Space Flight from September 1963 until December 1969. Hailed as one of NASA's "most brilliant and fearless managers", he was instrumental in introducing the all-up testing philosophy for the Saturn V launch vehicle, which ensured the success of the Apollo program in landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of 1969. Mueller also played a key part in the design of Skylab, and championed the Space Shuttle's development, which earned him the nickname, "the father of the Space Shuttle."
John T. Wolfe Jr. is an American higher education consultant and retired administrator. He served as president of Kentucky State University from 1990 to 1991; and president of Savannah State College from 1993 until 1997.
John Edward Cribbet was a well-known legal scholar, dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, and chancellor of the University of Illinois.
Paul Gillan Risser was an American ecologist and academic from Oklahoma. He served as president of Miami University and Oregon State University before becoming chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education.
Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is a public university with two campuses in Northwest Indiana; its main campus is in Hammond with a branch campus in Westville. It is part of the Purdue University system and offers more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to approximately 6,200 students with more than 64,000 alumni.
Francis T. Borkowski is an American former university professor, chancellor, and university president. Before holding administrative positions, he was a musician and conductor.
Margaret Katherine "Kathy" Banks is an American academic and civil engineer. She was the 26th president of Texas A&M University from 2021 to 2023, where she was the second woman to hold that position out of 41 total presidents at the time, including her interim successor.
Debasish "Deba" Dutta is an American mechanical engineer and higher education administrator. He is currently senior advisor to the president of the University of Illinois System and, effective February 17, 2024, is serving as interim executive director of the Discovery Partners Institute.
Robert J. Jones is an American crop physiology scientist, currently serving as the 10th chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since September 2016. He served as the 19th president of the State University of New York at Albany from 2013 to 2016.
Andrey (Andy) Abraham Potter was a Russian-American mechanical engineer and educator, and the 52nd president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the year 1933–34. He is known for his work in engineering and scientific education.
A. Dale Whittaker is an American academic and senior program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He was the fifth president of the University of Central Florida. He succeeded former president John Hitt in 2018, but resigned less than a year later after an investigation of the university for “misuse or planned misuse of nearly $85 million in operating funds for construction.” He was later found to be not involved in the misuse of funds. The state also later reversed its previous rules regarding these types of funds.
John Thomas Richardson, C.M. was an American academic administrator and Catholic priest. He served as the ninth President of DePaul University, serving from 1981 through 1993. He began his academic career with DePaul University in 1954, when he served as the dean of the Graduate School until his election as university president. After his tenure ended, he became the university's chancellor, serving until 2017.
Michael Amiridis is a Greek-American academic who serves as the 30th president of the University of South Carolina. Prior to this position, he served as chancellor of the University of Illinois Chicago from 2015 to 2022.
James Henry Smart was an American educator and administrator who served as the fourth president of Purdue University from August 23, 1883, until his death in 1900. An initiative of his led to the founding of the organization today known as the Big Ten Conference in 1896.