Ralph Gordon Hoxie (March 18, 1919 – October 23, 2002) was an American educator and college administrator who served as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

in the 1960s and founded the Library of Presidential Papers (later known as the

Center for the Study of the Presidency Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

), after he resigned from LIU. Hoxie was born in

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...

and earned his undergraduate degree in 1940 from Iowa State Teachers College, which is now known as the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Hoxie served as a captain in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and attained the rank of brigadier general as a reserve officer. After completing his military service, he earned graduate degrees from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and served as an administrator at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

and

C. W. Post College LIU Post (formally, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and often referred to as C.W. Post) is a private university in Brookville, New York. It is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system. The campus is named ...

. Honan, William H.br>"R. Gordon Hoxie, 83, Chancellor of Long Island University in 60's"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 30, 2002. Accessed October 10, 2010. Long Island University chose Hoxie as the dean of its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of Long Island University in 1954 and after a series of promotions was named the school's chancellor in 1964. By 1967, a conflict had arisen between Hoxie and

William Birenbaum William Marvin Birenbaum (July 18, 1923 – October 4, 2010) was an American educator and college administrator who served in leadership positions at the New School for Social Research, Long Island University and at Staten Island Community Co ...

the vice president and provost of LIU's

Brooklyn Center Brooklyn Center is a first-ring suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. In 1911, the area became a village formed from parts of Brooklyn Township and Crystal Lake Township. I ...

. Hoxie, described by ''

'' as an "educational traditionalist", had sought to raise tuition as a means of dealing with the college's mounting debt burden, while Birenbaum supported keeping lower tuition and approved changes that eliminated a dress code and allowed students to have a beard.Fox, Margalit
"William M. Birenbaum, College Leader, Dies at 87"
''

'', October 8, 2010. Accessed October 10, 2010. In March 1967, Hoxie demanded Birenbaum's resignation, despite the fact that the faculty had voted by a nearly 4–1 margin to keep him as provost. 1,500 students gathered to mount what turned out to be an unsuccessful protest demanding that Birenbaum be reinstated, chanting "We want Bill" and physically confronting Hoxie, who was rescued by campus police after protesters had ripped his coat. Hoxie told students that "This is a day of infamy in the life of the student body". Hoxie was asked to resign in September 1968 by the board of trustees. After leaving LIU, Hoxie founded the Library of Presidential Papers, an organization that was later named the Center for the Study of the Presidency and which studies the American presidency, publishing the journal ''

Presidential Studies Quarterly ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed political science journal dedicated to the scholarly study of the presidency of the United States. It was established in 1971 as ''Center House Bulletin'', obtaining its current name i ...

'' for historians. Hoxie died at the age of 83 on October 23, 2002, at his home in

Oyster Bay Cove, New York Oyster Bay Cove is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village located within the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, Long island, in New York (state), New York. The ...

. He was survived by Ada Hoxie, his second wife. His first wife, Louise L. Hoxie, had died on December 14, 1992.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoxie, R. Gordon 1919 births 2002 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Columbia University alumni Long Island University faculty People from Oyster Bay Cove, New York People from Waterloo, Iowa United States Air Force generals University of Northern Iowa alumni University of Virginia alumni United States Army Air Forces officers United States Air Force reservists Military personnel from Iowa