Robert Works Fuller Presidential Papers, 1960-1982
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Administrative/Biographical History
Robert Works Fuller, (b. 1936), educator, physicist, social activist, was the tenth president of Oberlin College (1970-74). Born in Summit, New Jersey, the son of Calvin S. and Willmine Works Fuller. Fuller left high school at the age of fifteen; in the fall of 1952 he entered Oberlin College with a Ford Foundation Early Entrance Scholarship.
In 1955, three years later, Fuller left Oberlin without having completed his undergraduate degree, even though he had enrolled in all of the available physics courses. Thereupon, he entered Princeton University where he studied from 1955 to 1957. In 1957, Fuller received a French Government Fellowship to study at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France. A year studying economics at the University of Chicago (1958-59) followed. In 1959, Fuller returned to Princeton University to complete his M.A. and Ph. D. degrees in physics. That same year Fuller married Ann Ellen Lackritz (b. 1936).
Upon graduating from Princeton in 1961, Fuller received a scholarship to attend the Brandeis Summer Institute of Physics (1961). His academic career began at Columbia University when he was appointed an Instructor of Physics (1961-63). In 1963, he was elevated to the rank of assistant professor at Barnard College of Columbia University. He taught there until 1965. Fuller returned to a position at Columbia University when he was appointed an assistant professor (1965-66). In 1966, when Fuller was named a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University, he served concurrently as a lecturer at Teachers College of Columbia University. As a Fellow at the Battelle Seattle Research Center in Seattle, Washington, in 1967-68, Fuller helped develop programs for school drop-outs and underachievers. After leaving Seattle, fifteen months later, Fuller was appointed Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Physics at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Fuller served as an academic administrator at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, from 1968 to 1970. He was quickly recognized as a skillful and successful college administrator. During his administration he was responsible for overseeing the admission and integration of women students at Trinity. He established special recruitment efforts aimed at attracting more minority students. Fuller initiated the establishment of a cooperative program with the Hartt College of Music, University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.
In 1970, Fuller was appointed President of Oberlin College. He was the unanimous selection of the search committee and the Board of Trustees. Much optimism and change filled the air. At his inauguration ceremony on September 1, 1970, he received an honorary A.B. degree from Oberlin. Fuller, at 33, became Oberlin's youngest president. The Fullers' informal style and the presence of their children (Karen Lackritz Fuller, b. 1960 and Benjamin Calvin Fuller, b. 1967) in the President's House were seen by many in the community as dramatic changes from previous presidential administrations.
Fuller attempted to establish a number of innovative programs. In 1970, Fuller established the Education Commission (Ed Com). Consisting of faculty, students, and administrators, the Commission proposed changes in the structure of the College. Included was a full-year modular calendar, tuition deceleration, redesigned courses, and credit granted for traditionally non-academic activities.
Although many of the Education Commission's proposals were not adopted, several of the programs generated by the Commission were established. Included among these were the Inter-Arts, Human Development, and Judaic and Near Eastern Studies (JNES) Programs. Among the most innovative was the Inter-Arts Program. It attempted to establish cross-divisional and interdisciplinary resource, curricula, and personnel sharing between the College of Arts and Science and the Conservatory of Music. The program attempted to establish a structure for students and faculty to explore the relationships of different art forms and new opportunities for cooperation among artists.
Fuller did not limit his efforts to transform the College to curricular changes. He gave his support to the construction of a controversial new library (Seeley G. Mudd Learning Center) rather than to expand old Carnegie Library. He further introduced new budgeting procedures, which were designed to be financially stricter, but also more open to scrutiny. Fuller's other innovations included recruiting a "feminist dean" and establishing of a committee on the status of women (to represent women's concerns), the sponsoring of workshops by the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, and the development of special recruitment and program efforts (i.e., Rockefeller Scholarship Program, Black Caucus Program) to make Oberlin more attractive to and supportive of minority students, faculty, and staff.
Fuller's reforms met with opposition. In fact, they created acrimonious debate among faculty and students. Reforms meeting the widest obstacles included the establishment of the Governance Commission (1972), the appointment of radical sports sociologist Jack Scott to the Chair of the Department of Physical Education (1972), and the attempt to limit tuition remission for faculty children. The Governance Commission, which attempted to reduce faculty power and offer more shared governance with administration, almost led the faculty to form a professional union in 1973-74 (ref. The Oberlin Review, December 14, 1973, pg. 3).
Additionally, Fuller tried to convince the College's Trustees to grant him the power to allocate and re-allocate faculty positions without faculty consent. This request and the debates over the granting of tuition remission, curricular changes, along with the direct challenge to the Finney Compact, added fuel to the fire.
Although the efforts at unionization failed by a close vote, Fuller continued to face opposition from faculty members. In November, 1973, Fuller submitted his resignation (effective February 2, 1974) to the Board of Trustees. Fuller served three years and ten months -- the shortest term of any modern Oberlin president.
After Fuller left Oberlin, he worked with Werner Erhard (founder of E.S.T.) on hunger awareness programs. Fuller's other activities included the Tides Foundation, "Ten Directions Project," which attempted to establish scientists from Russia and the U.S. by organizing long-distance conferences by satellites.
In 1995, Fuller still worked with Worldwatch, Inc., contributed to scientific journals, and pursued various projects addressing social issues and nuclear disarmament. Fuller, who resides in California, returned to the Oberlin College campus in 1987 for the unveiling of his portrait in the Mudd Center and in 1994 for the presentation of a talk (titled "The Future of Equality").
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