Ralph Prator (November 16, 1907 – July 25, 2005) was an American college administrator. He served as the first president of San Fernando Valley State College—now known as California State University, Northridge—from 1958 to 1968.

Academic career

Prator received bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

, and his Ed.D. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He briefly played minor league professional baseball with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

farm system. He was a high school principal in Colorado and later became dean of men and athletic director at Mesa College (now

Colorado Mesa University Colorado Mesa University is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university's other locations include Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction, and a regional campus in Mon ...

). Prator served as an administrator at the University of Colorado beginning in 1940, but interrupted his academic career to serve in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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 opposing ...

. He was hired as the President of

Bakersfield College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 22,000 students each semester or 31,000 annually, and offers Associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community C ...

in 1950, and in 1958 he became the inaugural President of California State University, Northridge (then San Fernando Valley State College). Prator served in this role until stepping down from the presidency in 1968., teaching six more years as a professor of education until his retirement in 1974. Prator was succeeded in his role as president by James W. Cleary. In addition, he was involved in various community organizations in Los Angeles after he resigned from the San Fernando Valley State College presidency.

Impact

Prator presided over tremendous growth while president at both Bakersfield College and San Fernando Valley State College. He supervised the construction of more than a dozen buildings at Bakersfield College and nine buildings at San Fernando Valley State College. Faculty increased from 100 to 600 during Prator's tenure, and student enrollment grew from 3,500 to 16,000, although there were occasional barriers to campus growth. Prator worked toward increasing the number of faculty—and their salaries—but was frustrated in his efforts. He was one of the few presidents in the California State College system who supported a statewide faculty senate in 1962. As a former Director of Admissions at the University of Colorado, Prator was appointed to the

California Master Plan for Higher Education The California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960 was developed by a survey team appointed by the Regents of the University of California and the California State Board of Education during the administration of Governor Pat Brown. UC Preside ...

Committee on Selection and Retention of Students, and it was in this role that he opposed a "college preparatory curriculum for the state colleges." Toward the end of Prator's tenure as president, student activism greatly increased, and Prator began to find himself the target of public student protests, the most extreme of which came after his resignation. His initial response to student unrest was optimistic, but the continuing unrest in the late 1960s eventually led him to retreat to the teaching ranks.

Personal life

Prator was married to Lois Prator until her death in 1996. They had three children together. Prator died on July 25, 2005 in Camarillo, California.

Bibliography

Prator authored one book: *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prator, Ralph 1907 births 2005 deaths American academic administrators Bakersfield College Colorado Mesa Mavericks athletic directors Colorado Mesa Mavericks football coaches Presidents of California State University, Northridge University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni People from Huerfano County, Colorado United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics