Administrative Biography

Overview
UMSL Initiatives
UWSP Initiatives
WSU Initiatives
SUNY-Buffalo Initiatives

Overview

Thomas F. George was appointed as the 7th chancellor of the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) in 2003. He has helped refine and articulate the special urban role of this campus as part of the University of Missouri land-grant system. As the only public research university in the greater St. Louis region, UMSL provides access to a top-quality education at an affordable price, and as such, is the largest provider of the workforce for the region. In concert with the campus community and external constituencies, the chancellor has led the development of a comprehensive action plan with well-defined priorities and goals which reinforce the university's role as a key driver of the cultural, social and economic well-being of the region. The campus boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in the state with respect to ethnicities and backgrounds. With both day and evening programs, the campus serves both commuter and residential students with an average age over 27, many of whom are working part-time or full-time and raising families. Without the presence of UMSL in the St. Louis region, many students would not have access to baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degree programs.

Founded in only 1963, where the programs and facilities are growing rapidly, UMSL is continually venturing into exciting, new areas. One example is the construction of the headquarters for Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) as the first anchor for the university's new Business, Technology and Research Park located on the campus. As a Fortune 150 company with annual sales of $18 billion, ESI is partnering with the campus in a wide variety of ways involving faculty and students. Their presence on campus is part of a greater effort on the part of UMSL to become a leader in the St. Louis region for fostering businesses using information technology and their partnerships with the university. The notion of partnerships extends to many other venues, such as cooperative degree programs with institutions overseas and building a new campus with St. Louis Community College. These partnerships are laminated on a host of outstanding academic programs on campus as driven by a world-class faculty. This is evidenced by a number of high national rankings and substantial increased external support from federal grants/contracts. In preparation for a comprehensive capital campaign (the first in the university's history), the annual level of private fund-raising has doubled in the past several years with the help of a number of gifts of $1 million or more and increased support from the alumni.

From 1996 to 2003 he served as the 12th chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP). Known on campus at UWSP as the "students' chancellor," Dr. George was highly engaged with students, faculty and staff, and provided ready accessibility to constituents both on and off campus. Believing that premier, primarily undergraduate teaching institutions like UWSP are "ahead of the curve" nationally in readiness to meet student needs in upcoming decades, the chancellor, in collaboration with faculty governance, committed UWSP to achieving a leadership position among public, comprehensive universities. To accomplish this, the institution embraced two themes/pathways to guide the university: student-centered excellence and partnerships (both external and internal).

Partnerships, which rely in part on online and distance education and support student-centered excellence, were a focal point of Chancellor George's plan for leadership at UWSP, where the Central Wisconsin Idea (CWI) was developed as a blueprint for partnerships in the region and state. The CWI embraced the fundamental concept of the Wisconsin Idea, which focused on the University of Wisconsin as a servant to the state, thereby strengthening the local and state economy. Efforts under the CWI included the following: expanded distance education opportunities within the Collaborative Degree Program, which offered UWSP degrees off-campus at central and northern Wisconsin sites; a collaboration between Mid-State Technical College and UWSP to provide instruction and training to employees of Stora Enso North America, a major international paper products manufacturer; the New Economy Workforce (NEW) Coalition, which was a program for degree and certificate completion in collaboration with businesses and other educational institutions in the Wausau, Wisconsin area; and the Wisconsin Learning Center (WLC), which was an off-campus classroom site equipped with distance-education technology as well as a computer laboratory through which students can enroll in courses offered by UWSP and Mid-State Technical College. In each case, partnerships with the state and federal governments, businesses (e.g., Marathon County businesses for the NEW Coalition and the Portage County Business Council for the WLC) and with education institutions such as the two-year UW Colleges and Wisconsin technical colleges were the key to success in these initiatives.

To further advance the institution along the above pathways, Chancellor George worked with the UWSP Foundation, external community, university leadership and four colleges to make major strides in raising the level of private support. This included a number of gifts of $1 million or more.

He has had extensive civic engagement in the St. Louis region. This includes his role as chair of Learning for Life, the largest component of the Greater St. Louis Area Boy Scout Council, serving 30,000 youth (half of the total number served by the council). He also is a member of the council's Executive Board. The chancellor is an Eagle Scout with the bronze, gold and silver palms (he has earned 62 merit badges), and in 2002 he earned the rank of Brotherhood in the Order of the Arrow, forty years after his induction. He serves on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Greater St. Louis and was the chair of the Education Division for the 2005 & 2006 campaigns. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA) and also serves as the chair of the RCGA Plant and Life Science Network. He is on the Board of Directors of the Hiigher Education Consortium of Metropolitan St. Louis, serving as the Secretary/Treasurer. He is an active member of various other boards: Missouri Botanical Garden, CORTEX (Center of Research, Technology and Entrepreneurial Expertise), Civic Progress, Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, Center for Emerging Technologies, St. Louis Mercantile Library, Christian Hospital, John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, YMCA of Greater St. Louis, St. Louis Science Center, Academy of Science of St. Louis, St. Louis Coalition for Information Technology, and Innovate St. Louis. He also serves on the advisory boards for the St. Louis Center of Excellence (Life Sciences) and IT Enterprises. In 2008 he received the (1) Distinguished Higher Education Award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Missouri State Celebration Commission and (2) Louis North County Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.

In Stevens Point, Wisconsin, under his leadership in 1999 as chair of the United Way of Portage County (UWPC) Campaign , the annual level of giving increased by 6% to reach a record level of nearly $1.5 million (he also served as president of the UWPC Board of Directors for the year 2001). He was elected secretary/treasurer (2002) and then vice-president (2002-03) of the Stevens Point YMCA Board of Directors, and in 2003 he served as co-chair of the YMCA's Strong Kids Campaign which raised a record of $122,000. In 2002, Dr. George was elected to a two-year term as president of the Wisconsin Samoset Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA); on a special note, the National BSA Camping Report for 2002 ranked the Samoset Cub Scout camp (Akela’s World) number 1 and the Boy Scout camp (Tesomas) number 3 out of 315 Scout councils in the nation. In 2003 he chaired the American Heart Walk for Portage and South Wood Counties, raising a record of $75,000.

In addition to his role as campus and community leader and fund-raiser, Tom George is a professor of chemistry and physics and active researcher-scholar in the derivation of theories and development of numerical techniques on computers to describe chemical, physical and optical phenomena, especially laser-induced processes involving materials such as microscopic surfaces and molecular clusters. His work has led to 700 papers, 5 authored books, 16 edited books/volumes and 205 conference abstracts (lists of selected publications can be found in his faculty Web curriculum vitae). He has served on a variety of editorial boards and currently is one of the two editors of the International Journal of Theoretical Physics, Group Theory and Nonlinear Optics. He has delivered numerous invited lectures on his scientific research and on higher education at international conferences, held lectureships at universities, and presented seminars/colloquia at various institutions and laboratories on science and higher education (380 overall). He maintains active collaborations with scientists around the world and has held the title of visiting professor of physics at Korea University in Seoul.

His research, including innovations in teaching, has been funded since the early 1970s from a wide variety of agencies and foundations. Four recent grants are from the following: (1) National Science Foundation (2003-05) to develop a course and textbook for teaching nanoscience/technology at the undergraduate level; (2) National Science Foundation (2003-06) for studies of ultrafast phase changes in semiconductors (with scientists in Hungary); (3) Army Research Office (2004-08) for studies of self-assembling organic nanostructures; (4) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (2007-09) for studies of rapid-detection sensors (with scientists in Romania); and St. Louis Institute of Nanomedicine (2009-10) for introducing nanomedicine into the undergraduate curriculum.

His scientific achievements have garnered prestigious awards such as the Marlow Medal and Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry in Great Britain and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Sloan and Dreyfus Foundations, and he has also been named a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, American Physical Society, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers and American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2004, he was elected as a foreign member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and in 2008 he received an honorary doctorate in physics (honoris causa) from the University of Szeged in Hungary.

Dr. George has served as chair of the Physical Division of the American Chemical Society and chair of the Northwest Academic Forum of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. He has been a commissioner on the Midwestern Higher Education Compact for both Wisconsin and Missouri, and in connection with this he was on the Founding Board of Directors of the Distributed Learning Workshop and has served as chair of the Policy Research Advisory Committee. Dr. George served on the Council of State Representatives in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. He was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Budget Committee. He was the chair of the St. Louis Local Committee for the 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting held in the city. For 2009-11, he is serving on the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for Education and Human Resources. Also for 2009-11, he is the chair of the Council of Presidents for the Great Lakes Valley Conference (Athletics). He has organized various international conferences and served on many review panels for universities (such as accreditation), funding agencies and other organizations.

Having studied with faculty at the Berklee School of Music in Boston and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester (New York) and having performed extensively in a variety of public settings, the chancellor is an accomplished jazz pianist. He performs as a soloist and with combos/ensembles (including singers) and bands in the region and throughout the state, especially in connection with university events. He has also performed recently at the University of Arkansas, Nanjing University in China, and the city of Szeged in Hungary. In a duo with a trumpeter/flügelhornist in 1995, he recorded a compact disc entitled Close Your Eyes: Women Jazz Composers under the Hester Park label. In 2007, he recorded a compact disc entitled Chancellor Tom George and Friends Present "Love from St. Louis by the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Born in 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tom George received his high school diploma in 1963 from Friends' Central School, where he earned varsity letters in soccer and wrestling; he received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. He completed his B.A. degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1967 with a double major in chemistry (with honors) and mathematics (with honors) from Gettysburg College, which gave him the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1987. He earned his M.S. degree in 1968 and Ph.D. degree in 1970 in theoretical chemistry from Yale University, followed by postdoctoral appointments at MIT and the University of California at Berkeley. In 1972 he joined the faculty at the University of Rochester where, by age 29, he attained the rank of full professor of chemistry. In 1985 he moved to the State University of New York at Buffalo as dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for six years. Prior to coming to UWSP in 1996, he served five years as provost and academic vice president of Washington State University.

He has been married since 1970 to Dr. Barbara Harbach, who is professor of music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (formerly associate professor of mathematics and computing at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and professor of music at Washington State University). She is a harpsichordist, organist, recording artist and composer, and she is also a co-editor of Women of Note Quarterly and co-owner of Vivace Press. She has the following degrees: B.A., Pennsylvania State University; M.M.A., Yale University; D.M.A., Eastman School of Music; konzertdiplom, Musikhochschule, Frankfurt, Germany; honorary doctorate in music (honoris causa), Wilmington College, Ohio.

Throughout his history as teacher-scholar-administrator, Thomas George has maintained a commitment to the ideals and goals of higher education and to creating a campus learning environment that prepares students for productive professional lives well into the 21st century. This has been demonstrated through priorities set in his administrative appointments at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Washington State University and the State University of New York at Buffalo, and in his original faculty appointment at the University of Rochester.

UMSL Initiatives as Chancellor (2003 - present)

The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) is comprised of 16,500 students, 1,500 faculty and 1,000 staff, with an annual operating budget of $200 million plus capital construction. There are eight colleges - arts and sciences, business administration, education, fine arts and communication, nursing and health studies, evening, honors, and optometry - with 46 baccalaureate programs, 30 master’s degree programs, 12 doctoral program and 1 professional program (optometry). As part of the overall land-grant mission for the University of Missouri, UMSL has an active continuing education and outreach unit, including University Extension. In addition to the main campus (350 acres) in St. Louis County, UMSL conducts programs on various community college sites.

Under Dr. George’s leadership as chancellor, the UMSL campus has been making significant progress:

UMSL received full reaccreditation for ten years (2009-18) from the Higher Learning Commission without the requirement of any additional reports/visits (only 5% of all institutions receive this unqualified reaccreditation).
Secured $28.5 million from the governor and legislature in 2009 for the renovation of the science complex on campus, including a new building.
Undergraduate international business program ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the top twenty in the nation since 2004, and as high as 8th for 2007.
Doctoral program in criminology and criminal justice ranked 4th in the nation since 2006 by U.S. News & World Report.
Department of Communication ranked in December 2005 as one of the top five research departments in the discipline by the Journal of Communication.
Information Systems program of the College of Business Administration ranked 3^rd among management information systems programs in the nation (behind the University of Arizona and the University of Georgia), and the University of Missouri-St. Louis as a whole ranked 5^th in the small research university category, i.e., universities with under fifteen doctoral programs (behind Boston College and Georgetown University), according to the 2006-07 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index of Academic Analytics.
College of Business Administration listed by The Princeton Review in 2009 as one of 15 graduate schools of business in the operations category of "Student Opinion Honors for Business Schools," and overall as one of the "The Best 296 Business Schools."
Master's in arts program in philosophy ranked in the top eight in the country by Philosophical Gourmet in 2008.
UMSL and Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) jointly received the Creative Deal of the Year Award from the St. Louis Association of Realtors and the Outstanding Development Award from North County Inc. due to the relocation of the ESI headquarters to the UMSL campus.
Record number of 3,150 degrees awarded in 2007-08, including a record number of 63 doctoral and 743 master's degrees.
Record total headcount enrollment of 16,500 in 2009.
UMSL ranked in the top 25 (14^th) colleges and universities in the country by “Saviors of Our Cities: 2009 Survey of College and University Civic Partnerships.

Made strides in planning and shared governance; e.g.,

In collaboration with the university community and external support groups, wrote an Action Plan with five prioritized directions, each with associated goals: (1) undergraduate and graduate/professional education; (2) diversity; (3) research, scholarship and creativity; (4) civic engagement and economic/social development; and (5) financial resources.
Established an annual assessment of the plan’s progress with the University Assembly Budget and Planning Committee, with appropriate adjustments in the goals.
Ensured planning processes in the various academic and support units in sync with the Action Plan.
Established an effective process of shared governance on campus through the University Assembly, Faculty Senate, Staff Association and Student Government Association.
Opened the decision-making process to the campus, with extensive input through organized channels, in order to achieve buy-in and support for budgets and programs.

In collaboration with the campus and external constituency groups, made substantial progress in addressing a long-standing, unresolved problem of an unequal distribution of state funds to UMSL by a large number of measures; e.g.,

Through the help of State Senator Wayne Goode (D), increased the annual state operating budget for the campus in FY05 by $2.7 million.
Through the help of UM President Elson S. Floyd, increased the annual state operating budget in FY06 by $521,000.
Through the help of State Senator Chuck Gross (R), increased the annual state operating budget in FY07 by $2 million plus $300,000 to establish the Center for Ethics in Public Life.
Through the help of UM Interim President Gordon H. Lamb, increased the annual state operating budget in FY08 by $300,000.
Through the help of UM President Gary D. Forsee and the legislature, increased the annual state operating budget in FY09 by $2.2 million (this and the above increases were in addition to any annual across-the-board adjustments made to higher education in the state).

Strengthened substantially the overall area of advancement; e.g.,

Reorganized the development effort by establishing a vice chancellorship for advancement and successfully recruiting an outstanding person to that position.
Under the auspices of the new advancement office, increased the annual fund-raising level from $7 million to $27 million.
Initiated the quiet phase of the university’s first comprehensive capital campaign, with a goal of $100 million.
Examples of recent gifts include: $2.5 million from Anheuser-Busch toward a new building for the College of Business Administration (the largest gift in the history of that college); $4 million to help create the Center for Excellence in Financial Counseling; $1.7 million to endow a chair in finance; $1.5 million to endow the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center; $1.5 million to endow a chair in Byzantine and Orthodox Studies; $1 million for the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library on the UMSL campus; $542,000 from Edward Jones and its employees to establish a new scholarship program in the College of Business Administration; and $580,000 collectively from Monsanto, Boeing and Sigma-Aldrich to establish the Science and Math Education Central in the College of Education.

Fostered interinstitutional and international programs: e.g.,

Exclusive academic partner with St. Louis Community College for their fourth campus built in Wildwood (West St. Louis County) where the population is expanding.
Established an international MBA joint degree program with Nanjing University in China, which has since expanded to other universities (University of Vienna in Austria, Kyoto University in Japan and Park Global School of Business Excellence in India).
Established an international MBA joint degree program with Nanjing University in China, which has since expanded to other universities (University of Vienna in Austria and Kyoto University in Japan).
Formed an agreement with PT PLN (Persero), in Indonesian electric company, for UMSL to provide training to management-level employees.
Established a collaborative master’s degree program in education with Harris-Stow State University in St. Louis.
Established an educational partnership with Logan College of Chiropractic for students to work simultaneously on a baccalaureate degree in biology at UMSL and a doctor of chiropractic degree at Logan.
Established a cooperative master’s of arts degree in history with Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) with support by a $1 million grants to MSSU from the U.S. Department of Education.
Established a dual admission transfer program with St. Louis Community College and Southwestern Illinois College.
Launched two new charter schools: St. Louis Language Immersion School and Grand Community School.

Promoted research and external funding; e.g.,

Increased the annual level of external funding from $23.5 million to $31 million.
Helped secure the university’s largest grant, $28 million from the U. S. Department of Education matched by $32 million from the St. Louis region, for a six-year project called GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs).
Helped secure $155,000 from the Murdock Charitable Trust (Vancouver, Washington) to the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library.
Established a UMSL chapter of Sigma Xi, the national scientific research society.
Recruited a new director and associate director of the Center for Nanoscience with additional investments to help make the center more robust.

Contributed to economic development in the region; e.g.,

Established the Business, Technology and Research Park on campus with the headquarters of Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) as the first anchor tenant. ESI, a Fortune 150 company with annual sales of $22 billion, issued an RFP that was responded to by various states to relocate their headquarters, including the corporate offices and IT operation, and UMSL was eventually chosen as their new site. The overall process for establishing the new $80 million ESI building complex, housing up to 2,600 employees, involved extensive negotiations with the county, state and developer, including real estate transactions and tax credits/incentives in various forms, such as a new $13 million road and $5 million of clean-up of waste in the ground. This has served as a model to the country as a unique, new kind of university-industry partnership and appeared in the national media, such as an interview with the chancellor on CNBC television and an article in the Wall Street Journal.
Established near campus an IT (information technology) facility called IT Enterprises with the help of grants totaling $1 million from the Small Business Administration (federal) and $500,000 from the Ameren Community Development Corporation (private), and an additional $1 million from the governor and state legislature. The facility contains a high-performance computing center and space for small companies.
Fostered the success of Sterotaxis, located within the Center for Emerging Technologies managed by UMSL, to become the region’s first life-sciences startup to file for IPO (initial public offering) and graduate from the center to a new permanent location.
Facilitated the relocation of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis to the UMSL campus, including the establishment of the Hispanic Student Chamber of Commerce.

Encouraged timely progress in the curriculum and degree programs; e.g.,

Established new baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in biochemistry & biotechnology offered in cooperation by the Department of Biology and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Established the new Winter Intersession between the fall and spring semesters.
Launched a new Doctor of Nursing Practice Program with the help of $890,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Worked on issues of equity and diversity; e.g.,

Created the Chancellor's Cultural Diversity Initiative, the Task Force on Gender Issues and the Equal Opportunity Advisory Council which have made important recommendations (that in turn have been implemented) for enhancing diversity and equal opportunity on campus.
Increased diversity in the student body, including the percentage of African Americans from 16% to 21%.
Established diversity in the faculty ranks as a priority. Two examples are: (1) A record number seven African American faculty were tenured/promoted in a single year. (2) In 2009, Diverse Issues in Higher Education reported that women comprising 58.5% of the faculty on tenure track at UMSL was one of the highest percentages for a doctoral institution in the nation.
Established a program with Vashon High School where a group of seniors, nearly all African American, spend their final semester on the UMSL campus, taking both Vashon and UMSL courses. As a result, the number of graduating Vashon students receiving acceptance letters to two- and four-year colleges has quadrupled.
Worked to enhance diversity in the surrounding community as well as the university, as recognized by the Outstanding Community Service Award from the St. Louis Branch of NAACP and the Distinguished Higher Education Award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Missouri State Celebration Commission.

Improved and created new facilities both on and off campus; e.g.,

Placed the new Performing Arts Central on firm financial footing as a resource to the university and outside community, including bringing the St. Louis Symphony there several times a year and becoming the exclusive performance venue for Dance St. Louis.
Built the first residence hall on campus with 430 beds and other amenities, like a swimming pool. Together with the apartment complexes on campus, this brings the number of beds to 1,500.
Established an environmental task force of campus and community people to improve energy efficiency in buildings, enhance recycling and promote health and safety.
Worked with the city of Normandy to secure a planning grant from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to enhance Natural Bridge Road running through the middle of campus.
Worked with the Great Rivers Greenway District to invest $650,000 to construct a pedestrian/cyclist trail through campus as part of a much larger trail in the region.
Initiated the development of a new presence for UMSL in Grand Center (the arts district of the city of St. Louis), including academic activities and the university's NPR radio station, KWMU.

Increased the campus commitment to athletics; e.g.,

Played a key role in leading the effort to expand the Great Lakes Valley Conference from eleven to fourteen teams, adding Missouri University of Science and Technology, Drury University and Rockhurst University.
Appointed an athletics task force to examine various issues including administrative structure, resources, scholarships and NCAA Division II status. Subsequently, significant changes were made, such as in the lines of reporting for athletics and its budget (which was increased).
Worked to ensure the success of athletics in all areas at UMSL. An example in non-NCAA competition is the 2009 Division I championship of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association.

Strengthened the faculty ranks; e.g.,

Increased by 16% the number of tenured/tenure-track faculty on campus.

Embarked on various student initiatives; e.g.,

Established the Center for Student Success to focus especially on students in academic jeopardy.
Established the Math Technology Learning Center designed for students to learn at different paces and in different fashions – its success was highlighted in the Winter 2007 issue of the Lumina Foundation Focus.
Accommodated 75 students from Louisiana universities affected by Hurricane Katrina, offering special tuition waivers and other help.
To complement the existing National Public Radio station on campus, established “The U,” a new student radio station, with a budget, new studios on campus, web broadcasting (www.umslradio.com) and participation of over fifty students.
Fostered the program called STARS (Students and Teachers As Research Scientists), including the acquisition of funding from Pfizer and Solutia, to encourage interest in K-12 in science and engineering.
Established four Exploring posts (Learning for Life, Boy Scouts of America) – one each in the College of Nursing, Honors College (in connection with environmental studies), College of Business Administration and IT Enterprises (an information technology incubator).

UWSP Initiatives as Chancellor (1996-2003)

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP), in the 2001-03 biennium, had 8,500 students and 1,000 faculty and staff, with an annual operating budget of $119 million plus a capital construction budget which reached $26 million. From 2000 to 2004, UWSP appeared among the top six in the first tier of Midwestern comprehensive universities as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, reaching as high as fourth in the rankings for 2002. In 1998, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine ranked the university among the top 100 best values in all public universities across the nation. UWSP was included in the 2003 Edition of The Unofficial, Unbiased, Insider’s Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges published by Simon & Schuster. As reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, during the period from 1997 to 2001 (the latest date for which the Institute of International Education had data while Chancellor George was at UWSP), UWSP was ranked in the top twenty (and as high as sixth) in the nation among master’s degree-granting institutions for the number of students who study overseas. In addition, the dance program was ranked in the top 25 college and university dance departments in the nation by Dance Spirit magazine in 1998.

Athletics excelled in all areas at UWSP. For example, at the national level: the women’s fastpitch softball team and basketball team won the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1998 and 2002, respectively; the men's ice hockey team took runner-up in 1998; the women's soccer team made it to the Final Four in 2000; and the men's wrestling team placed third in 2003. Out of over 400 Division III programs in the country, the combined women's and men's teams for all sports placed seventh in 1998 and 2000, sixth in 2001 and 2002, and sixteenth in 2003 in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Cup rankings for post-season competition. Leah Juno (track & field and cross country) in 2001 and Kari Groshek (basketball) in 2002 each won the prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award presented annually to the top eight student athletes from all men’s and women’s NCAA divisions and sports (UWSP became one of only two Division III institutions in the country to have two winners since the award's inception in 1973). In addition, the academic performances of both the women and men athletes in terms of grade point averages have ranked among the highest in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Under Dr. George's leadership as Chancellor, the UWSP campus made significant progress:

Earned the maximum ten-year reaccreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in 1998.

With the support of the university community and external support groups, established two strategic directions in 2002: student-centered excellence and partnerships.

Secured approval from the Governor, the state Building Commission and the Legislature for $25 million toward a total of $26 million needed to remodel and expand the Fine Arts Center in the 2001-03 biennium, with the remaining $1 million to come from private sources.

Received from the state Legislature in 2001-03 the largest biennial increase in the operating budget in the history of the university.

Encouraged the faculty and staff to secure extramural grants, reaching an all-time high of $8.8 million in 2002.

Made great strides in the overall area of advancement; e.g.,

Established the new Office of University Advancement and saw annual giving through the UWSP Foundation increase by 300%.
Worked with the Provost, Deans and Executive Director of the Foundation to create new development/marketing positions in each of the four colleges.
Developed a one-year mini-campaign called the Laird Legacy Campaign, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, to build the university's first $1 million endowment with the help of substantial contributions from former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Melvin R. Laird.
Secured the university's first single $1 million gift to augment the $25 million received from the state for the remodeling and expansion of the Fine Arts Center.
Following the above, secured a $2 million gift for three student scholarship programs.
Secured a $2.5 million gift to establish a center for entrepreneurship and enhance offerings in business ethics in the Division of Business and Economics.
Launched a communication plan with the help of a private marketing firm to enhance the image of the university.
Helped secure Ministry Health Care Services as a corporate sponsor for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of which UWSP is a member.

Made advances in the role of technology on campus; e.g.,

Through the Foundation and Academic Affairs, created a Learning Technology Advisory Team made up of leaders from industry in computer information technology in order to advise the university on how best to prepare students in the rapidly-changing world of technology.
Reorganized Information Technology and created a Technology Coordinating Council to better serve the university. After two years of successful operation, the Council was replaced by the new University Technology Committee of the Faculty Senate.
Created new College Technology Support positions, each split between a college and Information Technology, to directly address technology needs of faculty and staff.

Launched the Central Wisconsin Idea designed to strengthen the economy and workforce of the region; e.g.,

Developed new partnerships throughout Stevens Point, Wausau, Marshfield, Wisconsin Rapids and Waupaca among education institutions (K-12 and post-secondary), local governments/municipalities, chambers of commerce, private industry, and foundations.
Established a forum for interaction and cooperation among thirteen counties through the creation of the Central Wisconsin Task Force in connection with the Wisconsin Economic Summit.
With funding from the state and federal governments and a private foundation, and in cooperation with the Portage County Business Council and Mid-State Technical College, initiated the development of the Wisconsin Learning Center, which included the construction of a distance education facility at the Portage County Business Park. In connection with this, made an invited presentation at the 14th Annual International Conference of the Association of University Related Research Parks in Madison, Wisconsin
Helped lead a cooperative effort between UWSP and Mid-State Technical College to prepare and present a successfully-funded proposal to Stora Enso North America to manage the development and training of their 5,800 employees in the midwest region stretching from Duluth, Minnesota to central and eastern Wisconsin.
Helped lead the development of the New Economy Workforce Coalition in Wausau/Marathon County with initial funding from Liberty Mutual and the Judd Alexander Foundation, designed to enhance business-education partnerships which ensure that workers in north-central Wisconsin have appropriate technological skills and education.

Realized substantial benefits in the institution's premier natural resources mission unit; e.g.,

Secured $2.15 million with the assistance of Congressman David R. Obey as part of a federal omnibus appropriations bill to fund the College of Natural Resources for technology-enhanced learning in the natural environment.
Worked with Congressman David R. Obey's office to establish the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's first ever National Environmental Education Training Program at the College of Natural Resources at a funding level of $6 million for three years.
Developed, through the state Legislature, the Geoscience Registry Bill which enables hydrology and soil science students at UWSP to be certified to practice in their fields.
Secured, through the UW System and various state groups, an annual entitlement appropriation of U.S. Department of Agriculture McIntire-Stennis funds for forestry research.
Established a pilot project on land information and spatial systems analysis with funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Established the Land Use Education Center and the Watersheds Center with financial help from the state's Department of Natural Resources.
Designated the Global Environmental Management (GEM) Education Center, with initial funding of $1 million for the center’s watershed program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and $2 million for the land-use program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the help of Congressman David R. Obey and U.S. Senator Herbert H. Kohl, plus another $2 million for the rural leadership and community development program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the help of Congressman Obey.

Instituted a series of interinstitutional and cooperative agreements; e.g.,

Formed cooperative ties with Soonchunhyang and Soongsil Universities in Korea.
Approved a dual baccalaureate degree in computer science with Otto-von-Guericke-Universität-Magdeburg in Germany.
Helped establish collaborative four-year baccalaureate UWSP degree programs in business administration and general studies at the UW two-year campuses in Wausau, Marshfield and Marinette using long-distance audio/video telecommunication, and added a receiving site at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids.

Worked with the curriculum and advising; e.g.,

Launched a new Winterim period of study between the fall and spring semesters.
Established a new Office of Student Retention/Success for improving the overall retention rate of students.
Led the development of a four-year graduation agreement (with enhanced student advising) for which students have the option of signing up during their first year at UWSP.
Helped the development of a Technology and New Media Arts minor, led by faculty from Communication, Art & Design, Music and Theatre & Dance.
Secured funding from the state in the 2001-03 biennial budget to develop the Web and Digital Media Design major housed in the Department of Mathematics & Computing.

Worked on issues of equity and diversity; e.g.,

Hosted a series of campuswide diversity think tanks and completed a ten-year plan for enhancing campus diversity.
Secured outside funding to launch a course in 1999 entitled "Ethnic Diversity in Wisconsin" which was also videotaped for airing on television throughout the state.
Established the Committee on the Status of Women.
Encouraged the development of internships for diversity doctoral students from UW-Milwaukee and Howard University as part of a national program of the Council of Graduate Schools called Preparing Future Faculty, with a goal of their possible appointment to the UWSP faculty.
Worked with the Director of Equity and Affirmative Action to institute a mentoring program (by faculty and staff) for all minority students during their first two years at UWSP.
Established a domestic partner policy and procedure in cooperation with Personnel Services.

Instituted programs in faculty and staff development; e.g.,

Worked with a group of women faculty and staff to institute activities and programs, under the umbrella of the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership effort, designed to provide opportunities for women to develop leadership skills in academe.
Established a Teacher/Scholar Residence Program providing release time to selected faculty to pursue research and scholarship.
Helped facilitate the development of a project called LIFE (Learning is For Ever) under the auspices of Elderhostel, whereby retired faculty and others teach each other across a wide variety of disciplines.
Initiated the development of a classified staff mentoring program.
Initiated projects with faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics and Astronomy resulting in grants from the National Science Foundation for (1) developing a sophomore-level course in nanotechnology and (2) carrying out research on semiconductors in collaboration with scientists in Hungary.
Organized a campus-wide Technology Summit between the fall and spring semesters which evolved into an annual Teaching Conference, attracting faculty, staff and students across campus and the state.
Congressional grant of $500,000 awarded from the U.S. Department of Education to UWSP and UW-Marathon County through the efforts of Congressman David R. Obey for the Faculty Alliance for Creating and Expanding Teaching Strategies.

Embarked on various student initiatives; e.g.,

Worked with the Student Government Association to achieve a large increase in the percentage of students registering to vote and, in turn, voting in local, state and national elections; was authorized by the Stevens Point City Clerk as a special registration deputy.
Worked with a group of upper-division undergraduate students to establish a charter on campus for a local chapter (called a circle) of the national leadership honor society Omicron Delta Kappa.
Worked with a group of students and faculty to institute the UWSP Young Poets Project whereby students teach reading and writing through poetry to young men (ages 13 to 17) sentenced to the Lincoln Hills School (correctional facility) in northern Wisconsin.
Established the Chancellor's Excellence in Student Research Awards to encourage and fund attendance at state and national conferences.
Established an online journal for undergraduate research.

Instituted new programs related to athletics; e.g.,

Helped establish a new baccalaureate degree program in Athletic Training in partnership with the Rice Clinic and St. Michael's Hospital in Stevens Point.
Established Women's Ice Hockey as a varsity sport, with partial financing through the Student Government Association and concurrence with the Faculty Senate.

Worked with the University of Wisconsin System on various initiatives; e.g.,

Helped establish the WiSys Technology Foundation (appointed to the Board of Directors) as a subsidiary of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Fund to serve as the exclusive intellectual property management organization for UW System campuses other than UW-Madison and to provide services to patent, market and license inventions.
Helped develop a federal relations strategy for UW System institutions other than UW-Madison (appointed to the Federal Relations Council).
Helped launch the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Laboratory as a partnership among the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Technical College Systems and U.S. Department of Defense (appointed to the Co-Laboratory’s Commission).

WSU Initiatives as Provost and Academic Vice President (1991-96)

Washington State University (WSU), the state's land-grant university, in 1996 had 19,000 students, 4,800 faculty-staff and 75 locations throughout the state including three branch campuses, the Agricultural Research Center, Cooperative Extension and the Small Business Development Center. During his tenure at WSU, Thomas George was instrumental in moving the campus forward.

Chaired the Executive Budget Committee overseeing an annual operating budget of over $400 million plus a biennial capital construction budget as high as $100 million.

Played a key role in fund-raising and securing external grants for the university; e.g.,

Helped secure major corporate gifts as part of a WSU Campaign for $250 million, most notably $7 million from Boeing.
Served as main contact for a $1 million individual gift of the College of Liberal Arts.
Helped increased annual external sponsored projects expenditures from $62 million in 1991 to $89 million in 1995 (and to $117 million with inclusion of federal Hatch dollars, state agricultural research appropriations, and funding from federal student programs).
Coordinated the awarding of (state, federal, private) capital entities including: an $8 million growth wheat research facility; a $60 million veterinary medical hospital and animal disease biotechnology facility; a $26 million engineering teaching-research complex; and a $21 million building at the Tri-Cities branch campus to house the Hanford technical library collection.

Led WSU in planning activities; e.g.,

Drafted the university's academic vision statement.
Led the campus in strategic planning, enrollment management, and the reorganization of units to accommodate two biennia of state-imposed budget reductions.

Initiated the use of teaching portfolios in all tenure-promotion dossiers and created the Staff Senate. Played an active role in biennial budget submissions to the state; e.g.,

Drafted and presented the biennial budget requests to the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and defended their contents to the state's Office of Financial Management and Legislature.
Led in coordinating the state's six four-year public institutions and community colleges to secure $42 million from the Legislature for upgrading the two-way digitized audio/video telecommunications system for delivering instruction statewide.

Secured approval for a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Worked with the Faculty Senate to establish a four-year baccalaureate degree guarantee for entering first-year students. Effected an administrative reorganization by eliminating two Vice Provost positions and creating a new Vice Provost for Human Relations and Resources assigned to enhance personnel services and establish renewed commitment to diversity. Took steps to enhance diversity at the campus; e.g.,

Worked with the vice provosts to increase the percentage of students of color from 9% in 1991 to 12% in 1995.
Established a program for increasing the number of faculty of color.
With the Associate Dean of the Graduate School, launched a mentoring program for junior faculty, with special emphasis on women and faculty of color.

Enhanced the teaching-learning environment through using technology to create Virtual WSU (in cooperation with the industrial partners Microsoft and Asymetrix).

SUNY-Buffalo Initiatives as Dean (1985-91)

At the State University of New York at Buffalo, highlights of Thomas George's six-year tenure as dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (FNSM) include: Worked with outside agencies and the faculty to augment the level of external support; e.g.,

Increased the annual amount of funding from $6 million in 1985 to $13 million in 1991.
Played an important role in establishing the New York State Institute on Superconductivity at the campus with a special $9 million state allocation.
Assisted the University at Buffalo Foundation in establishing a new senior development officer post dedicated to the sciences, engineering and architecture. Worked with this officer on a $52 million university campaign.
Established the Sciences Alumni Association.
Led FNSM in planning and designing a new $72 million science building.

Launched a number of curricular initiatives; e.g.,

Helped lead the establishment of interdisciplinary programs such as the Center for Electronic and Electro-Optic Materials, the Center for Protein Engineering and the Program in Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences.
Played a central role in creating the Undergraduate College, including a new general education curriculum.
As a member of the Board of Managers of the Buffalo Museum of Science, worked on curriculum development for a new elementary science magnet school attached to the Museum. This initiative included the preparation of a proposal funded by the Teacher Enhancement Program of the National Science Foundation.
Helped set up a cooperative arrangement for faculty-student exchange with Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.