James Douglas McComas (December 23, 1928 – February 10, 1994) was 14th President of
Mississippi State University from 1975-1985, the 12th President of the
University of Toledo
The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...
from 1985 to 1988, and the 13th President of
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regi ...
, from 1988 to 1993.
McComas taught Vocational Agriculture in the 1950s and later served as head of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at
New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...
from 1966 to 1967; dean of the College of Education, at
Kansas State University, from 1967 to 1969; and dean of the College of Education at
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
from 1969 to 1975 when he was named president of Mississippi State.
President of Virginia Tech
McComas was hired to guide Virginia Tech back into smooth waters after the fallout from a controversial land deal and an athletic scandal led to the resignation of
William Edward Lavery
William Edward Lavery (November 20, 1930 – February 16, 2009) was the 12th President of Virginia Tech. He served from January 1, 1975 to December 31, 1987.
Biography
Born in Geneseo, New York, he earned his bachelor's degree from Michig ...
. He assumed his new duties on September 1, 1988.
From the beginning of his administration, McComas placed major emphasis on undergraduate education. He kept an open-door policy for students, personally visited over 4,500 of them in the residence halls, and advised 16. He established the Center for Excellence in Teaching and the Academic Advising Center; bolstered the honors program; saw that food in the dining halls was improved; created an Office of the Dean of Students; began planning a student recreation and fitness center; established commencement ceremonies at the end of fall semester; and developed EXPO, a “road show” of information about Virginia Tech for high school students throughout the commonwealth. He also established incentives to draw more
National Merit Scholars to Virginia Tech, moving the university into the nation’s top 20 in the number of merit scholars it attracted.
McComas had been in office only a year when the state learned that its projected revenues had been vastly overestimated, and Gov.
L. Douglas Wilder ordered severe funding cuts to higher education to balance the budget. Cuts to Virginia Tech alone in the 1990-92 biennium totaled $37 million (general fund reductions 1990-96 totaled $46.7 million, but the university was able to offset $16 million, principally by raising tuition). As Virginia dropped to 43rd in the country in state funding for higher education, McComas publicly decried the assault on higher education, resulting in strained relations with Wilder. The cuts forced the university to hold numerous faculty positions vacant for a period of time; 49 classified staff members lost their jobs, but the university was able to reassign 25 of them to other positions.
On the positive side, the
Norfolk Southern Corporation
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...
gave
Hotel Roanoke to the university in 1989. McComas, who had played a leading role in forging stronger ties with the City of Roanoke, directed Virginia Tech as it worked with Roanoke leaders to raise approximately $50 million to renovate the century-old hotel, build an adjacent conference center, and make road and pedestrian-access improvements in the adjacent area.
The president placed special emphasis on Tech’s traditional land-grant role of outreach and service, established a Public Service Division, and appointed an acting vice president for public service. Later, he created the position of vice provost for outreach and international programs and hired the university’s first black vice provost. He led the effort to make the university a force in economic development, helped form the New Century Council to create a strategic vision for the region, and initiated a series of public service forums throughout the state. He worked with town officials to bring a national Family Motor Coach Association convention and the
Tour DuPont
The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestig ...
to Blacksburg to boost regional economic development.
On campus he stressed the importance of community and emphasized the value of all employees to the operation of the university. He supported an overhaul of the university’s governance structure and the inclusion of classified staff in that structure. He encouraged diversity—minority student enrollment increased 26 percent in 1990—and supported the appointment of minorities and women to administrative positions. He oversaw the reorganization of athletics and the recruitment of an academic advising coordinator for athletes, transferred operations of the Alumni Association to the university’s administrative system, and placed administration of Virginia Cooperative Extension under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
During his tenure, research spending reached $125 million, the school of forestry became Tech’s ninth college,
U.S. News & World Report ranked Tech in the top 50 national universities, Tech joined the
Big East
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
football conference, McComas established the Presidential Award for Excellence to recognize outstanding classified staff members, Tech joined the town and C&P Telephone Company in unveiling the
Blacksburg Electronic Village
The Blacksburg Electronic Village or BEV was conceived as a project of Virginia Tech in 1991 and officially born in 1993. The goal of the project was to develop an online community linking the entire town. Extensive outside research had been done ...
, and serious planning began for a "smart" highway between Blacksburg and Roanoke.
Additionally, the university raised $17 million in a campaign for athletic scholarships and facilities and initiated the Campaign for Virginia Tech to raise $250 million by 1998. State voters approved a $472-million bond issue, which included $46 million for construction at Virginia Tech (McComas had campaigned heavily for the bond issue). The university secured final federal funding for a biotechnology center, and the Virginia Tech Foundation purchased facilities in Switzerland to house a new international studies center. In 1991 a flash flood left over $4 million in damages, principally to the Donaldson Brown Center and War Memorial Gym, spurring a much-needed renovation of the center, which was renamed Donaldson Brown Hotel & Conference Center. Payne Hall, the first new residence hall built on the Virginia Tech campus in more than a decade, and the first to offer
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
was completed in 1993. The university also began charging faculty and staff to park on campus, as required by the state, and improved campus accessibility, as required by the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
On September 28, 1993, McComas, diagnosed the week before with colon cancer, announced that he was stepping down immediately to begin chemotherapy and would resign effective January 1, 1994. In December 1993 the board adopted a resolution to present McComas with the Ruffner Medal. He died on February 10, 1994.
Early life and education
McComas was born December 23, 1928, in
Prichard, West Virginia
Prichard is a census-designated place (CDP) in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 461. It is located along the Big Sandy River and U.S. Route 52. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland, ...
. He received his bachelor’s degree in
Agricultural education
Agricultural education is the teaching of agriculture, natural resources, and land management. At higher levels, agricultural education is primarily undertaken to prepare students for employment in the agricultural sector. Classes taught in an ...
from
West Virginia University
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...
in 1951; and earned a master’s in 1960 and Ph. D. in education in 1962, both from
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. He Married Adele Stoltz of
Gouverneur, New York
Gouverneur (pronounced GUH-vuh-nor) is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,526. That down from 7,085 in 2010. The town is named after statesman and landowner Gouverneur Morri ...
, on May 10, 1961; they had two children.
Honors
McComas Hall at Mississippi State, which is home of the Department of Communication and the University Art Gallery, is named in his honor.
McComas Hall at Virginia Tech, which houses the Thomas E. Cook Counseling Center, Charles W. Shiffert Health Center, and the Department of Recreational Sports is named in his honor.
McComas Village, home of many fraternities and sororities at the University of Toledo, is named in his honor.
External links
Mississippi State University General InformationMississippi State University Gallery of the Presidents
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McComas, James Douglas
Virginia Tech alumni
Presidents of Virginia Tech
Presidents of the University of Toledo
Presidents of Mississippi State University
1928 births
1994 deaths
20th-century American academics