William S. Gaither administration records

Collection — Box: 2

Identifier: UR-01-009

Staff Only

Scope and content note

This collection consists chiefly of a set of subject files on organizations, university offices and departments, special projects, and administrative topics compiled by Drexel president William S. Gaither. The collection also contains a record of Dr. Gaither's outgoing correspondence from June 1984 to December 1986 and a box of certificates presented to him at his inauguration. The collection contains correspondence, memoranda, speeches, reports, memos, drafts, inauguration certificates, and brochures. It is organized in the following series:

Series 1 General Administrative Files has seven sub-series: A: Administrative (48 folders) contains folders on many different issues in which the Office of the President is involved, both on campus and off. B: Alumni (6 folders) and includes information on specific alumni and general surveys of alumni. C: Committees (25 folders) includes both on campus and off-campus committees of which Gaither was a member during his tenure as President. These include University City Science Center and Philadelphia area organizations. D: Computers (6 folders) has information on the impact of personal computers and students use of them at Drexel during the early 1980’s. E: Faculty and Personnel (25 folders) includes faculty council minutes and personnel records. There are also two folders on Drexel President W.W. Hagerty which provide biographical information on his career. F: is Fundraising and Financial Matters (8 folders) which includes budgets and other items form the Office of the Treasurer. G: Gaither, William S. (10 folders) is devoted entirely to President Gaither’s professional career. There are copies of speeches written by him, correspondence to and from him on a wide array of subjects, his inaugural address, publications from his early administration, and arrangements for travel that he did while President of Drexel.

Series 2 (33 folders) contains correspondence from 1984 to 1987.

Series 3 Inauguration (18 folders) contains Inauguration certificates from 1985 which were sent to Drexel by other colleges and universities upon Gaither’s inaugural and administrative records about the planning of the inauguration.

Series 4 Research (19 folders) contains information on different research projects in which Drexel was involved during Gaither’s tenure. There is a substantial amount of correspondence form Richard Schneider, the Vice President of research during the 1980’s at Drexel.

Series 5 Schools and Colleges (19 folders) includes data on different colleges and academic programs of study within Drexel and material on endowed chairs at Drexel.

Series 6 Students (14 folders) includes correspondence with the Vice President for Student Affairs on varied issues involving students and the administration at Drexel.

Series 7 University Relations and Public Affairs (35 folders) contains considerable correspondence to and from the Vice President of Public affairs at Drexel. There is also correspondence and reports from Cassidy and Associates, a firm Drexel hired for university relations projects.

Series 8 University Owned Real Estate (16 folders) contains folders on the Drexel Lodge, insurance, new residence buildings at Drexel, and ideas for academic buildings.

Dates

1981-1987

Creator

Drexel University. Office of University Relations (Organization)

Access restrictions

Student and Faculty records are restricted for eighty years from date of creation.

Biographical/Historical note

William S. Gaither was born in Indiana in 1932. He studied civil engineering at the Rose Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1956. Before continuing with his graduate education he worked for the Meyer Corporation, the Dravo Corporation, and the Bechtel Corporation as an engineer. In 1964 he received a Ph.D from Princeton University concentrating his work on marine transportation and ocean engineering. He taught at Princeton University and the University of Florida.

In 1967 he started an ocean engineering program at the University of Delaware. In 1970 he was offered the position of Dean and Professor of the College of Marine Studies at Delaware where he was also the Sea Grant Program Director. This Program is an organization which honors colleges that have developed a curriculum for studying the oceans and human impact on them. During his career he frequently testified to Congress on environmental and oceanographic issues. In 1984 he left the University of Delaware for the position of President of Drexel where he created eleven new majors and increased alumni giving. Gaither’s Inauguration as President of Drexel was held on April 27, 1985. He also worked on programs to enhance minority student enrollment at Drexel. During his tenure at Drexel he was on the boards of the University City Science Center, the PenJerDel Council, and the West Philadelphia Partnership.

In April of 1987, a female staff member alleged that Gaither had made inappropriate sexual advances to her. She made a formal complaint, but withdrew it when he apologized. The Board of Trustees gave him a vote of no confidence during the summer of 1987 and he was forced to resign.

see Gaither Personal Information in 1.11 Office of the President, Series 3 and 1.9 William S. Gaither Administrative Files

"A University with a Difference: The Unique Vision of Anthony J. Drexel," by Dr. Constantine Papadakis http://www.drexel.edu/papadakis/newcomen/index.html accessed 4/8/08.

"History of Sea Grant," Sea Grant: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationhttp://www.seagrant.noaa.gov/aboutsg/historyofsg.html, accessed 04/04/2008 1:18 p.m.

Extent

10 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

Series is arranged into eight series

Series 1 General Administrative Files Sub-series A Administration Sub-series B Alumni Sub-series C Committees Sub-series D Computers Sub-series E Faculty and Personnel Sub-series F Fundraising and Financial Matters Sub-series G Gatiher, William S. Series 2 Correspondence Series 3 Inauguration Series 4 Research Series 5 Schools and Colleges Series 6 Students Series 7 University Relations and Public Affairs Series 8 University Owned Real Estate

William S. Gaither Administration Records

General Administration Files
Correspondence
Inauguration
Research
Schools and Colleges
Students
University Relations and Public Affairs
University Owned Real Estate

Provenance

Transferred from the Office of the President, Drexel University

Related material

See UR 1.11 Office of the President Records for administrative files removed from UR 1.9 during processing. Both UR 1.9 and UR 1.11 contain files on the Long-Range Plan, University City Science Center, and Inauguration of the William S. Gaither Administration.

Bibliography

Biographical Notes from the Collection. Office of the President 1.11, Series 3 and 1.9 William S. Gaither Administrative Files Biographical notes from the collection. James Creese Administration Records, 1.7, Series 1, Sub-Series A.

http://www.drexel.edu/papadakis/newcomen/index.html accessed 4/8/08.

http://www.seagrant.noaa.gov/aboutsg/historyofsg.html, accessed 04/04/2008 1:18 p.m.

Processing information

This collection was processed by Robin Elliot and Cheryl Klimaszewski in 2008. Though the collection was organized intellectually into series, general physical arrangement of the records was not changed. The finding aid was updated by Laura Bees in 2014.