A Letter to the Temple University Board of Trustees

It has been a full generation since you elected me President of Temple University, a trust I enthusiastically accepted because I believed in Temple’s mission and its future.

Now, eighteen years after your decision and our passionate pursuit of that mission, I believe the time is ripe for the University to reach for new levels of excellence with a new President.

With your permission, therefore, I will retire as President on June 30, 2000, at the end of the academic year.

I thank you for the opportunity to serve this unique institution, and for your unfailing and selfless devotion to Temple.

Serving as President has been an incredible honor, and humbling. Despite what are described as "burdens of office," I have enjoyed every day of these past eighteen years, in good times and in bad, because of Temple’s mission, its history and people.

I thank the students, alumni, faculty, administrators, physicians, caregivers, patients, clients, friends and benefactors of Temple, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and most assuredly you, the Board of Trustees, for memories I'’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

The renewal process is continuous. Challenges, opportunities and cycles of change fuel the renewal of an institution’s mission, or can lead to its demise. So, there’s never a perfect time to change leaders.

In timing our transition, we chose a time when 9 key indicators for Temple’s future were good, appeared promising, or nearing completion.

Those indicators are: (1) financial stability; (2) enrollment; (3) academic quality; (4) student services; (5) a residential Main Campus, and the evolution of Temple Town; (6) regional, global and on-line presence; (7) major new construction and reno vations on four campuses; (8) the stability of the Health System; and (9) expectations of the core constituencies. An explanation of these indicators is included in the accompanying report.

The University will benefit from a smooth transition in leadership as we enter an incredible new era in higher education. But the challenges will not diminish.

A vibrant public research university whose main physical presence is urban Philadelphia and beyond, Temple has emerged from the turbulence of a previous era. It is reaching for new heights even in the face of a more uncertain environment of rapid tech nological transformation and global competition.

In the coming decades, serious challenges confront higher education, coupled with exciting new opportunities for enterprising souls and institutions. The long-term stakes for higher education loom larger than at any other time in the past, greater tha n the changes already underway in the delivery of health care. What is unfolding is an unforgiving environment of dizzying advances in information technology, in how and where people learn, and in a global and border-less marketplace with fierce competit ion, with new forms of alliances and institutional consortia, with multiple cost-driven and value-driven niches. Temple, as an outstanding institution with a history of innovation, is positioned to become a major international player in the new order of things.

The confluence of diversity and excellence has set Temple University apart as one of the nation’s prized jewels.

For Temple to flourish in the years ahead, there must be a second confluence of the relentlessly advancing information technologies and the indomitable human spirit.

We must find and achieve the "golden mean" between the Scylla of technological enslavement and the Charybdis of technological obsolescence.

We must achieve a harmonious balance between "virtual" modes of acquiring information, technical skills and scientific learning, on the one hand, and, on the other, a liberal education achieved with peers on a physical campus with devoted faculty mentoring students for a lifetime of personal growth, cooperation and service to others.

Like many institutions, Temple must determine the appropriate level of investment in order to mobilize resources and take advantage of the viable opportunities that will likely alter the reach, scope and methods of education.

As those determinations are made, the successful universities will have reorganized their internal "change" processes to permit greater flexibility in responding to external markets and pertinent technological breakthroughs. The prevailing a cademic culture, with its highly deliberative process of addressing change, especially at slower-moving public universities with unionized faculties, needs modification. Renewal at an institution entails change which encourages widespread innovation, suc cessful leveraging of limited resources, developing new infrastructure, and re-educating its faculty and staff. But change-too-late is like "no change at all."

Substantial gaps have already developed in "technological readiness." The gaps are within institutions, within faculties, between generations of students and faculty who have lived with technology since birth and their counterparts for whom technological change remains a threat, or a matter of irenic indifference. The gaps are already apparent in the larger society, and within and among nations. Unless the technological "divide" is reduced, we face major ferment, frustration and dislocations.

On college campuses, the symptoms may resemble those of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, but leading to the closure of many presently "prosperous" colleges and universities that fail to adjust to the new order of things.

One challenge is to maintain fidelity to the institution’s basic mission, excellence and the liberal education tradition, and to adapt and succeed despite the gathering winds.

According to a number of futurists, technological advances will render irrelevant the traditional college campus of bricks and mortar as the site for the socialization process and the "coming of age" of young peers. Regardless of one’s prediction of the particular long-term outcomes, what is clear is that traditional universities need internal processes of decision-making that are faster, more flexible yet still participatory. They’ll need them to make continuous adjustments in a Protean, rapidly transforming world and at least continue as players in this unfolding story.

These are precisely the kind of challenges I’ve always loved facing, full-time.

God willing, I might have been able to continue as President at full speed, perhaps for another decade or so, helping the University reap the benefits of these opportunities. But that wouldn’t be right for Temple, or me.

In today’s world, six years as President of an American public research university is the norm. Eighteen years is almost unheard of. Such tenure is particularly unlikely at institutions like Temple, with its immense diversity, unnerving confrontations, intractable challenges in an urban setting, and very ambitious mission.

I have served as President longer, and at a more advanced chronological age, than anyone since Dr. Conwell. As Board Chairman Richard J. Fox and Executive Committee Chairman Howard Gittis know, my original plan was to retire first in 1991 pursuant to the "Presidential Supplementary Retirement Plan of 1985." Events probably beyond our control delayed that event first in 1991, again in 1995 as we reorganized Temple through A Plan to Renew Temple’s Mission and legally spun off the Health System, and a third time in 1997 as we launched Strategic Initiatives leading to Temple’s present renaissance.

Having spent all these years in one exciting place leaves me wondering: "How did all the time pass so quickly? What have we really accomplished?"

Put more directly, I’ve been asked: "What induced you to stay so long, rather than launch another career?"

Temple’s mission, not that of my other institutions -- Harvard, Penn, Yale, William and Mary, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Duke, Drexel, all excellent in their own right -- captured my heart, soul and intellect from my first encounter as a young law professor in 1963.

Temple’s mission and the tremendous diversity of its people lifted my spirit then and regenerated me almost daily since.

Temple’s metaphor of "acres of diamonds in our own backyard" continues to strike me as true, simple and magical. It’s been a magnet in attracting talented and committed educators, administrators and trustees to our midst. It has inspired them in their teaching, in nurturing and supporting our student-diamonds. It makes coming to work fulfilling and fun.

That’s the fuller answer to why I happily remained on the firing line for 18 years when 9 was already more than enough.

But one of life’s realities is a truncated life span after seven decades, and I’d like to spend my remaining time in a wide variety of endeavors.

These include: teaching and research; learning more about life beyond higher education; serving broader publics; working directly with young persons and with those who are homeless; sharing possible insights from my own odysseys; delving further into art, music and literature; helping Temple in other ways; but probably not assisting John Chaney in coaching!

To achieve even some of these hopes will require a perspective different than the laser-like commitment of time and energy focused exclusively on Temple during these past 28 years as Dean of the Law School and President of the University.

You held me accountable for the whole institution, and you were patient in the face of adversity and my mistakes.

Dick Fox’s leadership as Chairman of the Board is unparalleled. For me, it’s been an incredible learning and loving experience to be his junior partner, drawing enthusiasm and wisdom from this uncommonly optimistic and committed soul mate during these exciting times.

Howard Gittis, my friend from law school days, continues to amaze me with his brilliance, compassion, judgment, generosity and extraordinary devotion to his adopted Temple.

Working with Howard and Dick increased my humility. With bosses like them, I realized early on that almost anyone in my position would have succeeded.

Beyond Dick Fox and Howard Gittis, no other President of a senior research university has been helped as extensively, effectively, continuously and unselfishly as I have been guided and buoyed by you, the members of the Board.

Nine of you have been showing me the way for 18 years - - Francis J. Catania, William H. Cosby, Jr., Paul A. Dandridge, Louis J. Esposito, Richard J. Fox, Howard Gittis, Milton Rock, Anthony J. Scirica, and Isadore A. Shrager; four others for more than 15 years - - John Contoudis, Clifford Scott Green, William W. Rieger, and Edward H. Rosen; and seven for 10 years - - Peter D. DePaul, Lewis F. Gould, Jr., Lacy H. Hunt, not to mention former Trustees, the late Irving K. Kessler, Harold K. Kohn, Reverend Henry H. Nichols, and Claire Wofford. Happily for Temple’s future, the more recently elected trustees demonstrate a similar commitment to this unique institution - - Joan H. Ballots, Michael L. Browne, Theodore Z. Davis, Nelson A. Diaz, Murray G. Dickman, Paul P. Giordano, Edward Kassab, Lewis Katz, Sidney Kimmel, Mitchell G. Leibovitz, Joseph W. Marshall, III, Daniel H. Polett, Arthur G. Raynes, Robert A. Rovner, Jane Scaccetti, James H. Shacklett, III, Edna S. Tuttleman, James S. White, James A. Williams.

You are the ideal Governing Board, unrelentingly devoted to the mission and students of your university. You have asked not what Temple can do for you, but how you can help Temple.

I thank those who laid the foundation for Temple’s first century of service, beginning with founder Russell Conwell, a dreamer and authentic educational entrepreneur, and Laura Carnell, who as Dean and Associate President implemented Conwell’s dreams. The first hundred years molded an institution for the progressive development for all of God’s children -- one of a handful of truly irreplaceable universities in America.

I thank the resourceful students, from all branches of our common humanity, for proving year in and year out that the Temple mission is alive and well. They are highly motivated, bright, ambitious, and often the first in their families to attend a university. I have seen them on and off campus, wanting their education so much they work while attending college.

I thank the highly skilled and committed faculty, the core of any university. In their midst are researchers who discover and invent new paradigms for society’s well being, artists and poets who expand and transmit our cultures, and gifted teachers wh o inspire students for a lifetime. Periodically reviewing their work products invariably leads me to marvel at their expertise and special gifts.

I thank the highly successful and loyal alumni, carriers of the Temple pedigree for a lifetime, for their example of giving back. They include luminaries like Bill Cosby, Esther Boyer Griswold, James E. Beasley, Edna Tuttleman, John J. Vivacqua, Milton J. Rock, Leonard Barrack, Sidney Kimmel, Murray H. Shusterman, Lewis Katz, and those not so famous but equally committed, and important, always proud to be "Temple." You are the best.

I thank the members of the Boards of Visitors of our schools and colleges, the Boards of Temple University Hospital and all other parts of the Health System, and the other volunteers in the finest philanthropic tradition, including John C. Haas, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the William Penn Foundation, Independence Blue Cross, the Annenberg Foundation.

I thank the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the support that makes it possible for Temple to provide an excellent education in hundreds of fields to the ambitious children of working families, at an affordable price.

I thank the student-athletes who annually become Temple’s most visible ambassadors, and reap the benefits later in life from the discipline, cooperation and integrity of team sports.

I thank those who plan and produce the jazz, classical music and news programming for Temple University Public Radio (the WRTI-FM network), the Temple Press, the Orchestra, the Choir, the Marching Band and the Pep Band, the cheerleaders, the art student exhibitors, Temple Student Government, the Faculty Senate, the General Alumni Association and alumni associations of individual schools and colleges, the Conwell Society, the Owl Club, the 20 Year Club, the 25 Year Faculty Club, Temple Association of University Professionals, the Charles Blockson Collection on African Americans, the Center for Biomedical Physics, the Pan African Studies Community Education Program (PASCEP), the Temple News and other student and scholarly faculty publications, the Counseling Center, Small Business Development Center, Institute on Disabilities, Institute on Aging, Institute for Intergenerational Learning, the Music Preparation program for youth, and the student volunteers and work study students who demonstrate through their actions how much they want to succeed.

I thank the persons, anonymous to outsiders but colleagues to us, who make Temple work every day: the housekeepers and facilities management staff, secretaries, the devoted health care workers, laborers, technicians and skilled clinicians at our hospitals, whose fidelity I’ve always admired.

I thank those who prepare, monitor and audit the financial systems, budgets and records of the University; those who advise our students with a smile, and those who expertly assist our faculty and students in libraries and computers; the skilled and community-oriented Temple police; the persons who prevent or repair breakdowns in electronic communication, plumbing and air conditioning; those who dispose of hazardous materials; those who build and operate stand-by electrical generators; those who keep Temple’s campuses neat and clean; and those who clear away snow from the pavements.

I thank the outstanding administrators with whom I worked closely for many years, always as a team. Each one is a unique, highly skilled and committed soul who has taught me by example.

Some of them have moved on to new and greater responsibilities, like H. Patrick Swygert, President of Howard University; Sandra Featherman, President of the University of New England; and Glenda Price, President of Marygrove College. Others have departed this life prematurely: C. Robert Harrington, Emilie Mulholland, Marie Cooney, Deborah White. Each contributed mightily to Temple.

Still other colleagues led or have continued leading the way as vital members of the University community and team in this era. A partial list of them and others in the family include the following: Leon S. Malmud, James S. White, Valaida S. Walker, Barbara L. Brownstein, Julia A. Ericksen, George E. Moore, James W. England, Peter H. Doukas, Timothy C. O’Rourke, Ione D. Vargas, Martin F. Tansy, Albert R. Checcio,

Helen L. Laird, Rochelle A. Toner, George Edberg, Marjorie B. Broderick, Bonnie Squires, William Yates, Carol Diehl, Philip R. Hamilton, III, Sonia Petersen-Lewis, William VanWert, Carolyn T. Adams, Curtis A. Leonard, Charles L. Blockson, Sandra A. Foehl, Paul Boehringer, H. Lewis Klein, Carl E. Singley, James A. Strazzella, Rachel Duplessis, Lynn H. Miller, Louise H. Kidder, Robert L. Kidder, Paul F. Smith, Leslie Muhlfelder, Beth Koob, Sherri Grasmuck, John Langel, Ralph W. Howard, Karen O’Donnell, Kathy Gosliner, Tina Sloan-Green, Kamel Khalili, Fred Maher, Joseph W. Marshall, Jr., Nikki V. Franke, James Blackhurst, Jack R. Greene, Seymour J. Rosenthal, Brenda P. Brooks, Ashwin M. Chatwani, James C. Bausman, Amitabha Mitra, Robert W. Colman, Margaret K. Devinney, Tobias Poole, Annie Hyman, Virginia M. Carter, Jack Nelson, Richard A. Joslyn, William Sites, James W. Degnan, Sally Rosen, Rafael A. Porrata-Doria, Joanne P. Roselli, John B. Means, Kristl L. Wiernicki, A. Kent Rayburn, William H. Seyler, Bernadette Norton, Beverly L. Breese, Norma Arnold, Nancy Z. Henkin, Charles Theokas, Jack Freeman, Richard A. Chant, William R. Tash, James Hilty, Thomas R. Freitag, Sandra J. McDade, Robert H. Lux, Robert G. Scanlon, William E. Orr, Charles Fishman, Fred Turoff, John MacDonald, Diane Scott-Jones, E. Albert Reece, Ruth Scarborough, Guenther H. Boden, Edward L. Franklin, III, Robert Fisher, Charles Soltoff, Robert R. Smedley, Linda A. Fiore, V. Paul Addonizio, Charles Tourtellotte, Jeffrey M. Cornelius, Thomas F. DiNardo, Andrew Riccardi, James J. Mohan, Nancy Quedenfeld, Patricia Conley, Barbara K. Johanson, Conrad Jones, Sonia Sanchez, Premkumar E. Reddy, Martin Adler, Nina J. Hillman, Maurice W. Wright, Arvind V. Phatak, Joseph F. Leonardo, Marcella V. Ridenour, Albert P. Black, Jr., Molefi K. Asante, Alan Harler, Willard Richan, Carolyn Black, Jayne W. Scott, Leonard Losciuto, Diane C. Maleson, Rodney Johnson, Laurent Remillard, Lois Sherman Hagarty, Amy B. Hecht, John G. Zenelis, James Myers, Susan B. Smith, Cynthia Metallides, Paul J. Andrisani, Michael J. McDonough, Edmund J. Amidon, Frank P. Annunziato, Earl Cleghorn, William D. Nathan, Damaraju Rajhavarao, William Sharp, W. Theodore Eldredge, Mary Louise Esten, Louis J. Soloff, Ingrid H. Rima, William C. Dunkelberg, Raymond F. Coughlin, Ronald N. Rubin, Gerald Litwack, David P. O’Brien, Stanton Felzer, James H. Kelch, David Randall, Donald L. Walters, Ann F. VanSant, Jean H. Woods, Renato L. Baserga, Thomas A. Marino, Michael Glick, Sheila Winfrey-Brown, Robert F. Leahy, Stanley Lechtzin, Daniel T. Dempsey, Alfred A. Bove, Norman Learner, Titus K. Schleyer, George Clanton, Charles Griffin, Faria M. Mesgar, Stephanie Knopp, Toby K. Eisenstein, Lawrence C. Connolly, Joseph S. Schmuckler, Marina Angel, Philip P. Betancourt, Rebecca T. Alpert, William Wise, Man-Chiang Niu, Kailin Tuan, John C. Chen, Roland Lipka, Victor Vazquez, Howard R. Grant, John Collins, Albert J. Finestone, Toby Olson, David Bradley, Edwin H. Sherman, Sonia James, Edrie M. Ferdun, John A. Paulos, Aram A. Agazarian, Maxine Chisholm, Mark C. Rahdert, Herta B. Graham, Cynthia Hirtzel, Stanley L. Rosner, Donald R. Price, Bunmi Samuel, Jan Ting, Robert J. Bartow, Akbar Bonakdarpour, Anthony Bocchino, John Lamberth, Gerald D. Shockman, Joseph S. Scorsone, James Camp, Len Donnelly, Marie Zecca, Dennis P. Leeper, Orin N. Chein, Jane B. Baron, Marvin J. Gerstein, David R. Dalton, Richard A. Sprague, Donald Hilsendager, Pauline Pao, Louise B. Moss, Benjamin M. Compaine, Diane Nelson-Bryen, John Cooper, Richard K. Greenstein, John Aglialoro, Adelaide Ferguson, Marsha A. Weinraub, Dolores Korman Sloviter, Phyllis Beck, David Rosenberg, Lynne Barrack, Doron Zeilberger, Susan Howell, Kenneth Kopecky, Nancy Rothman, Alice G. Abreu, Richard Cappalli, Phoebe Haddon, Kenneth Cundy, Peter R. Lynch, Marilyn J. Gaull, Edward Mazze, Donald Resnick, Nancy Resnick, David B. Elesh, David A. Sonenshein, C. Anthony DiBenedetto, Vera Hutton, Jack Hutton, Shontae White, Philip R. Yannella, James C. Armstrong, Sidney Cohen, Deborah Feldman, Margaret C. Wang, Sol F. Sherry, Laurence D. Steinberg, Ruth Z. Ost, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Dieter Forster, John J. Pron, Jay Lamont, Patricia N. Peterson, Geraldine A. Perkins, E. Jane Middleton, Gerald H. Sterling, Bryce Weatherly, Keya Sadeghipour, Richard Shusterman, Bettye Collier-Thomas, Jay Scribner, Ellen Raven, Eileen C. Bradley, Charles Bush, Robert M. Lowell, Warren F. Bass, Kathryn A. Hirsch-Pasek, Robert R. Smith, Charles J. Leone, Lois Cronholm, Stephen C. Zelnick, Sheryl K. Ruzek, Philip C. Kendall, Leonard J. Swidler, Murray Friedman, Sarah Banks, Chyan Long Lin, Robert D. Hamilton, Deirdre A. David, Jack R. Greene, Jagbir Singh, Russell F. Weigley, Marcie H. Mackin, Kamal Latham, Debra Kahn, Sarah Hilsendager, Valerie Abbott, Susan Albertine, Edward Ohlbaum, Virginia A. Arnsberger, Michael B. Wang, William Rinck, Robert M. Greenberg, John Mattiacci, Trevor E. Sewell, James Fitzsimmons, Muriel L. Feelings, Robert Hedley, Janet M. Yamron, Sandra W. Weckesser, Timm Rinehart, John F. Morris, Tim Walsh, Rajan Chandran, Philip J. Jaslow, Cathleen K. Morano, David R. Glezerman, Harry A. Bailey, Jr., Antonio M. Goncalves, Irene Petratos, Israel Packel, Ernest C. Casale, Richard C. Cramer, Reginald Bryant, Thomas M. Whitehead, M. Patricia Staub, Seymour Wolfbein, Leonard Mellman, Rhetta Linton, Lee Carl, Joseph G. Nahas, Howard Myrick, Daniel P. Tompkins, Michael Jackson, Allen R. Myers, Freddie Sanford, John P. DeAngelo, Aaron and Doris Bitman, Michael Bitman, Dorothy Smith, Barbara Yates, William H. Duncan, Sarah S. Long, Sheri Stahler, Donald R. Price, Ira G. Shapiro, Judith G. Goode, Anthony Panzetta, Gwen Deal, Richard J. Kozera, Myrtle Jackson, Kathleen Davis, Lambert Orkis, Joseph A. Marlino, Sr., Howard Spodek, Raymond A. Moyer, Martin Goldberg, Theodore C. Quedenfeld, Jeffrey I. Greenstein, Benjamin Krevsky, Howard E. Blake, Charles Shagass, Helen Kwalwasser, Thomas C. Patterson, Mortimer Labes, Michael Clancy, Susan A. Wheelan, Janet Stellini, Lori Kuterbach, Neil Kosh, Max L. Ronis, Eve R. Meyer, Allan D. Marks, Carole A. Oglesby, Dawn B. Marks, Richard Kendall, Gloria Borden, Michael Jhin, Donald F. Redmond, Francis Sweeney, Natalie Hinderas,Timothy M. Fehrle, Joseph Vespe, Danny Westcott, Robert B. Weinberg, Carl W. Holmes, Anne Shlay, Jay L. Rosen, Edwin Gordon, Linda T. Frazer, Frank Friedman, William Stull, Matthew Greenbaum, Bennett Lorber, Donald Newman, Thomas Rams, Camilla Keach, Rosalind Meyers, B. Stimson Carrow, John L. Rumpf, Michael Fetchko, Hellmut Fricke-Gottschild, Sarah Gray, William Harvey, Leon Ehrenpreis, Harriet K. Goodheart, Laurie Paavola, Robert Suhaldonik, Susan Stewart, Roni Roberson-Tinsley, Frank McClellan, Nora E. Bronson, M. Judith Russo, John Moore, Anthony J. Comerota, Ronald Tuma, John J. Hilferty, Donald Morsee, Donald W. Humphreys, Theodore Clark, Bradley G. Townsend, Edwin Beausoleil, Helen Buckley, C. Tselhloane Keto, Kenneth F. Mangan, Peter Severeid, James M. Cirillo, Stephen Wong, Rachel Blau, Daniel O’Hara, Gene Ulmer, David Grandstaff, Marcia Hall, Margaret Marsh, Dona R. Nelson, Wallace Ritchie, Jr., Harvey Wedeen, Michael J. Lewis, Thaddius Mathis, Brigitte L. Knowles, Peter Walsh, Nicholas A. Cipriani, Sylvia Rosenberg, Samuel D. Hodge, Jr., Harriet Ferguson, Joan McCord, Joel Sheffield, Ralph L. Rosnow, Kariamu Welsh-Asante, Winifred Lutz, Robert L. Walter, Gavin White, Alma Quigley, Karen Koziara, M. Robert Baren, Leroy W. Dubeck, Conrad Weiler, Harry A. Young, Brian P. Butz, Mark Heller, Kenneth Bruscia, Marie Stuart, Arthur Hochner, Theresa A. Dolan, Raj K. Narayan, Stuart Myers, Adelaide Van Titus, Charles Rogovin, Frederick B. Higgins, Edward Trayes, Robert Villier, Ruth Schultz, Richard Immerman, Nina Isakoff, Nancy Kolenda, Marion Hansberry, Theresa E. Burt, Portia L. Hunt, Terrence Sukalski, Marvin Ziskin, Delores M. Andy, Harold B. Morley, Roger Anliker, Frederic H. Kauffman, Marvin Terry Grody, Essie M. Davis, John D. DiSangro, Wilbert J. Roget, Charles F. Schalch, Rodney Timmons, Aquiles Iglesias, Samuel Lander, William Duncan, M. Mark Mendel, Peter Mattoon, David Auspitz, Kenneth Smukler, Charles Pizzi, Rowe Mettee, Richard S. Kennedy, John S. Goldkamp, Mark Gershon, Edward Gruberg, Pen-Ming Ming, Terry A. Halbert, Diane Breslin-Knudsen, John A. Sorrentino, Robert Drennan, John Collins, Magali Sarfatti-Larson, John Shank, William L. Yancey, Rosario R. Espinal, J. Brooke Harrington, William Woodward, James Roberge, Nikolaos Passas, J. Robert Troyer, Richard Klafter, John Esposito, John M. Lindsey, Jan Pillai, William L. Rafsky, Frances B. Rauch, Thomas Fekete, Charisse Lillie, Fitz E. Dixon, Jr., Carson D. Schneck, Robert Birnbrauer, John Dowell, Prince Brigham, John Hagopian, Rose Hagopian, Willis Maier, Jim Maloney, Jean Moore, Marcie and Herman Mattleman, Joseph M. First, Charles K. Klein, Jack Kolff, Mel Silberman, Theodore Z. Davis, Stefan Sokol, Royal T. Popper, Dale Roeck, Stephen L. Mikochik, David Zitarelli, Jay Eshelman, Meyer Glasberg, Kathleen B. Richards, Ray Lauff, Carolyn Robins, Eileen Aitken, William Thompson, Eugene Kwatny, Jim Kibelstis, Mike Riordan, Barbara Dolhansky, Chris Rivera, Myra Taksa, Jim Papacostas, Catherine Schifter, Sandy Kyrish, Peter Bonasto, Brian Forman, Sal Martin, Mark Cohn, Sally Frazee, Rosalind White, Mary Dunn, James Brown, L. Parker, Claire M. McNicholas, Eileen McShea, C. William Fox, Joseph M. Schwartz, Elie Noujain, Cynthia Folio, Richard Eisenstaedt, Arthur Chodoroff, Kenneth Soprano, Patricia Martin, Abraham Panackal, Ronald Fell, James Johnson, Gavin White, Jr., Ina Calligaro, Norman Felsenthal, Nate Blackwell, Richard Thornton, Dean J. Demopoulos, C. Anthony DiBenedetto, Raj Chaganti, Kevin Delaney, Jan Krzywicki, Michael Sitler, Nicholas Kripal, James A. Shellenberger, James T. Demopoulos, Chuck Williams, Daniel Hargreaves, Lee Roberts, Paul Gibson, Edwin E. Gordon, Linda Mauro, Howard Warner, Michael R. Jacobs, William H. Schreiber, Joseph Labolito, Patricia J. Clifford, Sam Jankovitz, Martin Black, Chet Zukowski, John Baum, Don Henderson, Harry Donahue, K. LeRoy Irvis, Delia Diaz, Michael Grady, C. Thomas North, Vasiliki M. Limberis, Angela M. Racciatti, John Raines, Jacqueline R. Resavage, Michael E. Libonati, Kimberly Ciarrocca, Robert A. Bertucci, Michael Keller, Priscilla Murphy, Austin Culmer Smith, Sylvia Hopkins, Peter Chodoff, Paul E. Paire, Brenda Long, Jean Berry, Gerald Hinkle, Scott Burris, Samuel O. Gyandoh, Rosann Souder, R. Ivan Lugo, Moses Williams, Charles Ireland, Joseph Margolis, George L. Shmidheiser, Gerald Cope, Norma Furst, Eileen Cooney, Carmella Iodice, Eugene Ericksen, R. Anderson Pew, Judith McAfee, Eve Atkinson, Charles McCloskey, Edward Feehan, Michelle Willis, John Alexander, John S. Manos, Floyd Hill, Paul Swann, Charles Puchon, Brian C. Kirschner, Sonya Garfinkel, Susan Rock, Steve Young, Charles Thompson, Jayne Kribbs Drake, Eli Goldblatt, Theresa Randall, Virginia Alvord, Judith Thorpe, Robert A. McLaughlin, Merle Berman, Patrick Montgomery, Beth Lindquist, Zeb Kendrick, Michael Leeds, William Stull, Linda Carbo, Raymond J. Lolla, Evelyn Carmona, Sharon Boyle, Allyson Saccomandi, John Kinkade, Jennifer Mazzio, Gerry O’Kane, Dave McNichol, David Schweibenz, Robert DiMeo, Eleanor Myers, Kevin Delaney, Albert C. Vara, Maurice J. Kane, Stephen Tustin, Kathy Nogami, Martin Lepold, Ben J. Rome, Karen Cherwony, Marie Amey-Taylor, Richard Lutman, Kathleen Lepchuk, Richard West, Gene Balibar, Sharon Marano, Kay Deming-Graham, Alfred Hanson, David Molotsky, Amy Adamshick, Zorro Kazanjian, Ken Anderson, Bill Mlkvy, Beverly Tinsley, Lynn Snyder, Chris Brittin, Scott Cathcart, Bill Wilkinson, Mike Taylor, Lauren Fuchs, Bobby Wallace, Milt Richards, Kristen Foley, James "Skip" Wilson, Ruth Shrier, Guy Rodgers, Don Gravatt, Mark Macon, Marilyn Stephens-Franklyn, Mike McFall, Barbara Graham, Peg Kenney, Tracy Channel, Bill and Lynn Appel, Jay Norman, Michael Grady, Dawn Ramos, Arlene Kraemer, Karen Little, Karen Williams, Charles Mathew, William B. Green, and the thousands of others whose names I have not mentioned, but I will acknowledge as many as I can when this letter is published, as an expression of my gratitude.

I thank the outstanding leaders who have worked directly with me for the full 18-year run, who overlooked my personality, overcame my hard-headedness and continue to excel: John Chaney, Arthur C. Papacostas, Richard M. Englert, Robert J. Reinstein, George H. Ingram, Thomas Anderson, Jay Falkenstein, Al Shrier.

I thank my immediate office staff over the years, all winners and loyalists, including: Barbara U. Brown, Roxanne Berardi Kulakowski, Janet Carruth, Helen M. Burke, Philip Schaeffer, Jesse Milan, Barbara Berry, and the late Haston A. Hopkins, Jr.

I thank Temple’s emerging generation of administrative leaders for reinforcing my confidence in Temple’s future: Martin Dorph, Moshe Porat, Chris Platsoucas, William Bergman, Corrinne A. Caldwell, Maureen Pastine, Tom Maxey, Richard Rumer, Kyriakos M. Kontopoulos, Morris Vogel, Sophia Wisniewska, Joseph W. Marshall, III, Kim Strommen, Concetta Stewart, Frank Farley, Elizabeth H. Barber, Carl S. Bittenbender, Donna M. Snow, Elizabeth J. Leebron, Joanne A. Epps, Daniel W. Boston.

I thank our good neighbors in the dynamic communities near our campuses. Leaders like Floyd Alston, Anita DeBrest, William H. (Sonny) Hill, Reverend William H. Gray, III, Pastor J. Jerome Cooper, Reverend Leon H. Sullivan, Christine Washington, Samuel L. Evans, Jerome Mondesire, Lydia Hernandez Velez, Charles W. Bowser, Constance E. Clayton, Nelson Diaz, Bernard C. Watson, the late Alphonso Deal and Ruth W. Hayre, all of whom would vividly remind me that our children’s future is the conscience and challenge of America, and Temple University.

Over the years, thousands of persons from this region and abroad have encouraged me in every conceivable forum to "do it right." Especially in periods of disappointment or crisis, these words of encouragement helped immeasurably as did the inspiration of my teachers.

It is because of all those people and institutions that I proudly wear my Temple "T."

Finally, and on a personal note, I owe an irreplaceable debt of gratitude to my family – primarily Ann, our children, Lisa, Jim, Stephen and Gregory, our grandchildren, John Locke Marshall and Peter James Marshall, but also James M. Marshall, Darieck Scott, Leslie Smith, and my extended family. Their loyalty, patience and support inspired me but often came at their own personal expense as I focused on Temple.

Whether the "Liacouras Era" succeeded or failed is a subject for historians to assess in another forum.

I know that Temple University was terrific before I arrived and that Temple will flourish long after I’m gone.

In working as a team with the goal of developing Temple as the finest public urban-based research university in the nation with a global presence, we took risks, made mistakes and had our share of luck.

Presidential credit for success is often overrated. At Temple, credit should be directed to the leadership teams we assembled over the years, to the faculty and students. Failures, however, are the responsibility of presidents but too often blamed on others. At Temple, the "buck stopped" with me.

I know we tried our best to pursue the University’s mission and its well being for the long-term, while administering a complicated federation of self-governing parts.

Throughout these years, I have been guided by the ideals and commitments summarized in my inauguration address of October 28, 1982, inspired by the rich history of Temple’s achievements since its noble and humble and proud origins, and by the examples of my parents and family.

My own measuring standard for personal success is simple, and hasn’t changed. I shared it at the close of my inaugural address, and with your permission will quote that "final personal note" from October 28, 1982:

QUOTE:

My father had only one year of formal schooling, at the St. Joseph’s House for homeless industrious boys. It was at 737 Pine Street. He carried with him for 65 years what he called his "diploma." He used to tack it on the wall. This diploma was his most precious material possession. It was really only a letter of recommendation from John Duff, headmaster of the school.

This letter was written in 1911, when immigrant boys had to earn what little respect they got. In 1911, letters of recommendation were short, honest and to the point. The letter said simply, and I quote:

"The bearer - - James Liacour [sic] - - was a boy in St. Joseph’s house some time ago: A good boy, a very industrious boy, one who could be relied upon.

"I have since heard nothing to make me change the above opinion of him.

(signed) John Duff"

During the next decades, changes will come uncomfortably fast for the dominant culture in the academy.

While those who do change are guaranteed nothing, they are the more likely to succeed.

Those who live in a real or imagined past and are paralyzed by the truth or unwanted facts and who block progress, place themselves in jeopardy.

In the new age we have entered, an institution’s irrelevance can be reached faster than it takes for old soldiers and former presidents to fade away.

As Temple’s first presidential search in a full generation begins, old assumptions will be challenged, present directions re-thought, self-studies will abound. Above all, it is a season for projecting the kind of future we want, and helping shape it.

I know the Board of Trustees will appropriately manage the process, and choose wisely.

With your counsel and support of the new President, the sky’s the limit for Temple.