Transforming vision marks Danforth years

Danforth is a regular on the sidelines of athletic events, cheering University teams to victory both at home and away.

"Catch a passion for helping others, and a richer life will come back to you."

William H. Danforth caught the passion for helping others that his grandfather William H. Danforth (Class of 1892) wrote about in 1931. Through Danforth's unparalleled dedication and what he describes as a "cool-headed, warm-hearted" leadership style, a richer life has indeed come to the Washington University community. At 73, his 48-year association with the University spans more than half his lifetime and is filled with accomplishments so numerous they are nearly impossible to catalogue.

Danforth, the speaker and recipient of an honorary doctor of philosophy degree at the 138th Commencement May 14, recently announced that he is stepping down as chairman of the University's Board of Trustees. He accepted that position in 1995, one day after retiring from a 24-year tenure as chancellor -- one of the longest among active educational leaders.

At its May 7 meeting, the Board named Danforth chancellor emeritus, vice chairman of the Board and a Life Trustee of the University, joining four former Board chairmen in holding that title. Effective July 1, Danforth will be succeeded as chairman by John F. McDonnell, retired chairman of the board of McDonnell Douglas Corp. and a Board member since the 1970s.

"No chancellor in recent times has had the influence over a university that he has had," said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Wrighton attributes much of Danforth's remarkable success to experience and wisdom. "The development of that wisdom stems from his intellectual strength, a special sensitivity, what you might call a nose for good ideas and opportunities, knowing when to press forward and when not to.

"He has a great receptivity to different points of view; he is enthusiastic about new people, new ideas. He has the right balance of idealism and pragmatism. Those are all great strengths that have contributed to an era of unprecedented, effective leadership."

A ubiquitous figure at University gatherings and functions, Danforth also has boundless energy and endurance. "It's been common during these four years of my tenure and Bill's as chairman," Wrighton said, "that we begin meetings together in the morning at 7:30, or occasionally earlier, and we close University events together at 10 o'clock at night the same day."

Danforth and his wife, Ibby, on her birthday in 1994.

Among the many accomplishments during Danforth's time as chancellor is the formation of the University's National Councils, voluntary advisory boards that review each school's programs and assist and advise deans and administrators. Danforth assisted as well in establishing the Monsanto Agreement, one of the largest research agreements between an American university and an American corporation, which has brought the School of Medicine more than $100 million in research grants and has produced more than 40 patents.

He also took part in developing the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, a graduate educational consortium of faculty affiliated with 29 basic science and clinical departments on both the Hilltop and Medical campuses.

He welcomed to campus innumerable dignitaries and celebrities, including the Dali Lama, Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bob Hope, and George Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, whose visit to campus for the 1992 presidential debate put the University in the national spotlight.

"He has done more for making the University what it is today than anyone else," said McDonnell, who has known Danforth for 30 years as a friend, as a director at McDonnell Douglas and as a fellow Trustee. "When he became chancellor, Washington University was still essentially a St. Louis institution, and when he retired as chancellor, it was an international institution. He has a great love and affection for the University, and he is very steadfast. He has a very strong vision of what he wants to happen and on a very quiet, low-key basis, he is able to convince people of his vision and make them want to achieve it."

Under Danforth's leadership as chairman, the Board took action on two critical initiatives. The Board launched Project 21, a University-wide strategic planning effort initiated by Danforth in 1993. Board members also undertook the current Campaign for Washington University, the first major campaign since the 1982-87 Alliance Campaign that raised $630.5 million -- more than double its original goal and, at the time of its completion, the most successful fund-raising campaign in the history of higher education. In fact, during the Danforth years, the market value of the endowment increased 24-fold.

Danforth, McDonnell said, has a gift for fund raising. "He is very persuasive," McDonnell said. "Not in terms of a hard sell. He's just so genuine and so clear in his thinking and his purpose that it's very hard to turn him down."

Dedicated to students

Students have always been a priority for Danforth, pictured here chatting informally with students during freshman orientation in his first year as chancellor.

Danforth's vision has led to a flourishing community that fulfills what he calls the "twin goals" of the University: educating students who go into the world and contribute to society and encouraging scholarly research that, as he said, "adds to the sum of human understanding and wisdom."

The hallmarks of his chancellorship, which he called "the best job in the world," were fiscal responsibility, thoughtful and caring leadership, attracting and retaining outstanding faculty (during his tenure, 11 Nobel prizes and two Pulitzer Prizes came to people associated with the University, along with many other prestigious honors) and, above all, dedication to students. He is known for never turning down a student's request for help, and, for Danforth, their experiences form some of his best memories.

"Every year, Commencement was a highlight, seeing students graduate. Every year it was a highlight to see the new students come in," he said. "I was very fortunate to get to work with wonderful people. I think it's one of the great universities of the world."

In his half century of service, Danforth has played many roles. He's been a friend at the bedside of ailing faculty and staff members, a father figure reading "bedtime stories" to freshmen, an extra set of hands to help students carry bags into the residence halls and a cheerleader on the sidelines at athletic events.

"He was one of our biggest fans," said Amy (Albers) Laczkowski, who played on the University's national championship volleyball team for three years before graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1995.

Danforth even made it to away games, she said, cheering the team on to victory at the 1993 national championship game against Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. "He always wore the same Wash U. volleyball T-shirt every time over his tie and under his jacket," Laczkowski said. "I always knew when he was there, and it was great to see him out in the stands."

Nearly always, Danforth's wife, Elizabeth, was cheering right alongside him. "Not having them at the game would be like, 'Why aren't my parents here today?'" Laczkowski said. The Danforths' support and enthusiasm won the couple the 1995 Distinguished Service Award for revitalization of the Washington University Athletics Program.

Students in the 1970s pay homage to their chancellor by placing his face on the Brookings Tower clock -- a symbol of Danforth's omnipresence on campus.

Responding in kind, as they so often did, to his commitment to them, the students threw what they called "the biggest party for the best chancellor" on Danforth's 69th birthday in 1995, with about 4,000 guests and a 150-square-foot cake in the shape of Brookings Hall. A month later, at his final Commencement as chancellor, the graduating class awarded him an oversized diploma affectionately made out to "CHAN DAN."

"I always said we graduated together," said Laczkowski, who served as a senior class officer and is now a management consultant at Ernst & Young LLP in St. Louis. Elizabeth Danforth also "graduated" with Laczkowski, receiving an honorary doctor of humanities from the University in 1995.

Laczkowski called the close contact the students had with the head of a major educational institution "unusual." Even more unusual is that the friendship between the Danforths and Laczkowski did not end at graduation; in 1997, the Danforths attended Laczkowski's wedding in Graham Chapel.

"He's a great man," Laczkowski said of Danforth. "Everyone is so fond of him, and he was so open and accessible to the students. You definitely felt like it was one big family. It was wonderful."

Beyond the campus

Danforth welcomes then-President George Bush to campus in 1989, when Bush praised the spirit of volunteerism at Washington University in a speech at the Athletic Complex.

A widely-respected proponent of education, Danforth was chairman of the area's Desegregation Task Force from July 1995 to May 1996, when he was hand-picked by a federal judge as the desegregation settlement coordinator. His efforts helped deliver a positive result for St. Louis city and suburban school districts, including a recent vote by city residents to tax themselves to help pay the cost of the program.

Nationally, he has served as chairman of the University Athletic Association Presidents' Council and chairman of the Association of American Universities, for which he recently headed a national committee that drew up guidelines on best practices for graduate education policies and programs.

From his early years at the School of Medicine working in the laboratory of Nobel Prize co-winner Carl Cori, Danforth rose to become a member of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine and a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been a leader in science policy and funding, including co-chairing the National Science Board Commission on the Future of the National Science Foundation, on which U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala also served. He twice turned down offers to head the National Institutes of Health.

Internationally, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a private organization that since 1921 has studied problems in U.S. foreign policy, and serves on the board of International University in Germany.

His wife of 49 years, who is fondly known as "Ibby," also is a beloved figure at the University. A Women's Society scholarship is named for her, and the Elizabeth Gray Danforth Butterfly Garden on Forsyth Boulevard was created in her honor in 1996. The William H. and Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholars Program, which makes scholarships available for students in each of the University's schools, was established in their honor in 1995. The couple has four children and 15 grandchildren.

Long involved in community service, Danforth was named Variety Club's Man of the Year in 1995, when he participated in the organization's telethon.

As Danforth steps down as chairman of the Board, the University is experiencing "an era where we're enjoying an unprecedented level of interest from people all around the country and all around the world," Wrighton said. "Washington University is now not only a treasure to this community but is a treasure to the nation and world. Building a national treasure is Bill's legacy."

That legacy will live on in the new millennium. "I think a university doesn't change its nature year in and year out," Danforth said. "It's a place where very intelligent, gifted people gather to do their scholarly and scientific activities, and I hope that that will continue and that the University will continue to grow in stature and in service to its students and to the larger world."

Such a passion for helping others is Danforth's trademark. "Once a student said, 'What do you most want to be remembered for?'" Danforth recalled. "And I said, 'You, for your accomplishments.' I think that's what a university is about. It's about other people's accomplishments."