John E. Corbally
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John Edward Corbally Jr. (October 14, 1924 – July 23, 2004) was an American academic administrator and university president. Corbally led Syracuse University from 1969–71 before becoming president of the
University of Illinois system The University of Illinois System is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three universities: Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign. Across its three universities, the University of Illinois System enrolls more than ...
from 1971 to 1979. He held roles in numerous non-profit organizations, including a decade as the first president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.


Early life

Corbally was born in
South Bend, Washington South Bend is a city in and the county seat of Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,637 as of the 2010 census. The town is widely-known for its oyster production and scenery. History South Bend was officially incorpor ...
on October 14, 1924 to John E. Corbally Sr., a
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
education professor, and Grace (née Williams) Corbally. 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 ...
, Corbally held the rank of
lieutenant junior grade Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...
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 ...
. He saw battle in the
Pacific Ocean theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
and received a
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
. After the war, Corbally returned to school, where he met his wife Marguerite Walker; they married in 1946. In 1947, with a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
from the University of Washington, he took a job as a high school chemistry teacher in Tacoma. He pursued further education at the University of Washington, graduating with a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in 1950. He earned a
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in 1955 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 ...
and put his degree in educational administration and finance to work by taking an associate professor position at
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 ...
, where he would eventually become provost and vice president of academic affairs, positions held until he accepted the chancellor position at Syracuse University in 1969.


University president


Syracuse University

Corbally replaced
William Pearson Tolley William Pearson Tolley (September 13, 1900 – January 26, 1996) was an American academic. Biography Born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, he grew up in Binghamton, New York. He was valedictorian of his high school class. He graduated from Syracus ...
as chancellor at Syracuse and reorganized the school's administration structure to match what he had experienced at Ohio, adding a provost and multiple vice president positions as opposed to the single vice chancellor position that the university had before. During his short time as chancellor, Corbally faced crises spurred on by civil unrest surrounding the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
and
race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...
. Tolley, his predecessor, was a proponent of military education on campus; this included the establishment of a
Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...
(ROTC) program. By the time Tolley left office, the university faced major financial issues and there was uncertainty regarding the future of the ROTC program. Corbally advocated for keeping the program and its academic accreditation, an idea which was opposed by students hostile to a military presence on campus, some of whom participated in a sit-in of the ROTC building in February 1970. The matter was referred to the school senate, a democratic body composed of students, faculty, and administrators, which voted to keep the program open, a move which many students felt was forced by the chancellor. Later that same year, on May 4, the shooting of four students at Kent State protesting against the United States' invasion of Cambodia led directly to the
student strike of 1970 The student strike of 1970 was a massive protest across the United States, that included walk-outs from college and high school classrooms initially in response to the United States expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. Nearly 900 campuses ...
, a nationwide protest by students on college campuses against US involvement in Vietnam, including at Syracuse. Early protests on campus led to
firebombing Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary d ...
and window-breaking, but Corbally's decision to cancel classes and allow the students to protest without police or administration interference arguably resulted in more moderate protests than at other colleges. The peace was short lived, however, as in August 1970, eight black players on the Syracuse Orange football team did not show up for preseason practice, citing systemic racism in the program and discrimination by coach
Ben Schwartzwalder Floyd Burdette Schwartzwalder (June 2, 1909 – April 28, 1993) was a Hall of Fame football coach at Syracuse University, where he trained future National Football League stars such as Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little and Ernie Davis, t ...
. The move was a continuation of a boycott of spring practice by the players, and they were automatically suspended as a result. A university report released in December of that year declared that there was a chronic problem of racism in the Syracuse athletics programs, though in some cases the discrimination was unintentional. In response, Corbally reinstated the players and approved the creation of the Athletic Policy Board to oversee athletics at the school. The board would include input from students and ensure that all students, regardless of race, were entitled to fair treatment. In early 1971, Corbally was offered the presidency of the University of Illinois system, which he readily accepted. The board chair called the resignation, "quite unexpected". The suddenness of his resignation at Syracuse led to speculation that he had been pressured to leave due to the tense events of 1970 or that he wanted to jump ship from a school still facing financial difficulties. However,
John Robert Greene John Robert Greene is an American historian who was the Paul J. Schupf Professor, History and Humanities, the director of the History Program, co-director of the History/Social Science major, and the College Archivist, at Cazenovia College in Ca ...
, in a 1998 book on the history of Syracuse, argues that none of that is true: Corbally handled the student protesters and football boycott admirably, despite criticism at the time from some alumni of the school, and he, along with his vice chancellor Ronald Brady, had improved the financial status of the school much in the two years since Corbally took office. According to Greene, the chancellor took the new job "simply because he received a better job offer". Corbally was succeeded by his provost Melvin A. Eggers. Corbally is the only Syracuse chancellor to not have a campus building named after them after finishing term.


University of Illinois

At Illinois, Corbally replaced David D. Henry, who stated he was stepping down in favor of a younger president with fresh ideas. Almost immediately, Corbally sought to raise capital to fund construction and programs at what was then the ninth-largest university system in the country, especially focusing on the Chicago campus and the school's veterinary medicine and agriculture programs. Corbally enlisted the help of alumni from these programs to raise money for two new buildings on the Urbana-Champaign campus. In 1976–1977, Corbally sought to preserve funding to University of Illinois at a time when Governor Dan Walker was seeking cuts to state university budgets. Continued funding was secured from the state legislature in 1977 by way of a campaign by current and former students of the school organized by Corbally.


MacArthur Foundation

Corbally was elected to the board of directors of the Chicago-based
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...
in 1979. He later resigned his position at the University of Illinois to become the first president of the foundation, serving from 1979–89, after which he remained on the board of directors, and as chairman of the board from 1995 to 2002. He is credited with starting the MacArthur Fellows Program, as well as guiding the foundation through its legal troubles of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when J. Roderick MacArthur – son of founder
John D. MacArthur John Donald MacArthur (March 6, 1897 – January 6, 1978) was an American insurance magnate, real estate investor and philanthropist who established the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, benefactor in the MacArthur Fellowships. ...
– sued several board members over alleged mismanagement of foundation funds.


Personal life

Corbally was a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
and the first of that denomination to become chancellor of Syracuse, a historically
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
university. After his time at the MacArthur Foundation, Corbally retired to his home state of
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, where he served as a board member for various Seattle-area organizations, including the Rural Development Institute, now known as
Landesa Landesa Rural Development Institute is a nonprofit organization that works with governments and local organizations to obtain legal land rights for poor families. Since 1967, Landesa has helped more than 180 million poor families in 50 countries ...
. He died on July 23, 2004 from brain cancer, aged 79, at his home in
Mill Creek, Washington Mill Creek is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located between the cities of Everett and Lynnwood, approximately northeast of Seattle. The city has a population of 20,926 as of the 2020 census. The city lies along ...
.


Publications

* * * *


Notes and references


Notes


References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Corbally, John E. 1924 births 2004 deaths Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Leaders of the University of Illinois Ohio State University faculty People from Mill Creek, Washington People from South Bend, Washington Presidents of Syracuse University UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education alumni University of Washington alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics