had seen the institution grow from a Memorial School with 57 students and nine faculty to a
College with over 1,500 students.
Graduating from MIT in 1901, he later returned to his alma mater to teach a course in
warship design, a postgraduate course for Annapolis men who had been detailed to MIT. He
also taught at Case School of Applied Science, at Cornell University, and at Lafayette
University before coming to Potsdam. In 1962, he was honored by Clarkson at ceremonies
naming a residence hall on the Hill Campus in his honor: Ross House.
Provost Office.
President Graham announced the creation of the office of provost as chief
operating officer of the College whose primary duties included institutional planning and
priorities, the academic budget, professional personnel administration, and the supervision
coordination and development of the College's regular and special programs.
A committee of three administrators, A. George Davis, dean of student affairs; Donald
F. McIntyre, vice president and treasurer; and Herman Shulman, vice president and dean of the
School of Engineering, administered the office of provost until one was selected.
Superschool.
In an announcement sent to all faculty on August 6, President Graham proposed a
"superschool" to change the perspective and management of all of Clarkson's academic areas
outside of engineering and science. This new superschool would combine the existing faculties
of accounting, economics, humanities, industrial distribution, military science, physical
education, and social sciences.
Dr. Graham believed that with such an amalgamation, the faculties might find ways to:
suggest completely new curricula designed to provide greater understanding of the complex
problems of our technological society; evolve new social policies and procedures to solve these
problems; and provide a grounding in management fundamentals and skills for leadership in
private as well as public organizations.
This proposal was sent to the Faculty Senate for consideration at its first meeting in the
fall. To consider this
August 6 Proposal
, as it was called, the Senate formed an 11-member
committee composed of representation from all schools: three from management, three from
humanities and social sciences, two from science, two from engineering, and an eleventh
chosen by the Faculty Senate to serve as chairman. These members were to be elected by the
faculty of the respective schools. Professor William Armstrong was elected chairman by the
Senate; the remainder of the committee consisted of John Parr (Management), Joseph Scaturro
(ID/Management), Don Burlingame (Management), David Sanders (Humanities), Eugene
Fodor (Social Sciences), Richard Hutchinson (Humanities/Social Sciences), Victor Lovass-
Nagy (Science), Peter McNulty (Science), George Leppert (Engineering), and Andrew Burke
(Engineering). Its primary charge was to study the interactions of programs and organizations
mentioned in Graham's August 6 memorandum.
Meeting in closed session for a total of 23 hours over a two-month period, during which
it heard testimony from President Graham; Vice Presidents Shulman and McIntyre; Deans
Kerker, Davis, and Frazer; several department chairmen; and the director of admissions, the
committee submitted an interim report on December 4.
Its final report on December 6 recommended that the departments of humanities, social
sciences, and industrial distribution not merge with management; that humanities and social
sciences become a separate administrative unit in the College with a single leader reporting to
