Frank Loucks Hereford Jr. (July 18, 1923 – September 21, 2004) was the president of the University of Virginia from 1974 to 1985. He died in 2004 at the age of 81. Among the hallmarks of his presidency were a major capital campaign, which increased the university's endowment from $97 million to more than $250 million; and ending the traditional Easters Weekend party.

Biography

Hereford attended the University of Virginia as an undergraduate, where he wrote a sports column for ''College Topics'' (the precursor of '' The Cavalier Daily'')Dabney, p. 244. and sang in the Virginia Glee Club. He received a B.A. in physics in 1943, became a physics fellow working under Jesse Beams after the war, and received his Ph.D. from the university.Dabney, p. 264. During the war years, he worked on research for the Manhattan Project with Dr. Beams, who called him "one of the best all around physicists with whom I have ever been associated." He subsequently became a professor at the university, then became head of the Physics Department and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1962. He was appointed provost in 1966.Dabney, p. 431. He was appointed vice-president of the university (one of five newly created VP-level offices) in 1970, but resigned his posts of vice-president and Dean to return to research in 1971.Dabney, p. 457. He was elected president to succeed Edgar Shannon in 1973 and took office a year later on the condition that he only serve for ten years; he extended his term by one year to oversee the completion of the university's first capital campaign, which began in 1981. At the university as an undergraduate, Hereford was a member of

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...

, T.I.L.K.A., and the

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

social fraternity, as well as the

Raven Society The Raven Society is an honor society at the University of Virginia, founded in 1904 by University student William McCully James, and named in honor of the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, who attended UVa in 1826. According to its constitution, on ...

and Phi Beta Kappa.Dabney, p. 595. Upon his death, it was announced that Hereford had been a member of the

Seven Society The Seven Society (founded 1905) is the most secretive of the University of Virginia, University of Virginia's Secret societies at the University of Virginia, secret societies. Members are only revealed after their death, when a wreath of black ...

. He was also a member of the whites-only

Farmington Country Club The Farmington Country Club is a country club in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. The octagonal east wing of the clubhouse, constructed in 1802 near the University of Virginia as an addition to a pre-1780 structure, was designed by Thoma ...

. Where his predecessor

Edgar F. Shannon Jr. Edgar Finley Shannon Jr. (June 4, 1918 – August 24, 1997) was a professor of English and president of the University of Virginia from 1959 to 1974.Obituary, New York Times. Biography Shannon attended Washington and Lee University as an und ...

had resigned from the club, Hereford stated that he preferred to remain and attempt to change the club from within.Dabney, p. 486. His membership caused controversy at the university in 1976, resulting in one faculty resignation."Jeffersonian Dilemma"
'' Time'', February 9, 1976. The incident became the catalyst for social change at the university including the establishment of an Office of Minority Affairs. Hereford was a recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1966,Dabney, 601. and the Raven Award. The Hereford Residential College at UVA is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hereford, Frank Presidents of the University of Virginia University of Virginia faculty University of Virginia alumni 1923 births 2004 deaths Burials at the University of Virginia Cemetery 20th-century American academics