Michael D. Ward

SHAPING HISTORY The University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation Michael D. Ward SHAPING HISTORY The University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation By Michael D. Ward © 2008 The University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation AuthorHouse 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200 Bloomington, IN 47403 www.authorhouse. com Phone: 1-800-839-8640 © 2009 Michael D. Ward No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means ivithout the toritten permission of the author. First published by AuthorHouse 1/19/08 ISBN: 978-1-4389-4468-5 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-4389-4467-8 (dj) Library o f Congress Control Number 2008912037 Printed in the United States o f America Bloomington, Indiana This book is printed on acid-free paper. Patrick W. Richardson Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of Patrick W. Richardson, known fondly as the “Father of The University of Alabama in Huntsville.” At a meeting of the University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation, Pat, as he was known, introduced a request that the foundation engage Mike Ward to write a history of the foundation. This request was warmly received and passed without dissent. He died shortly thereafter, leaving big shoes to fill in his devoted support and advancement of UAH. To honor Pat, the University reserved the license plate UAH001 for him. He drove his Lincoln with it proudly displayed until his death. After his death, his wife, Mary, gave this University vanity plate to UAH. It was placed in the Huntsville time capsule as a fitting reminder that Pat was, indeed, the father of UAH and he was number one in the hearts of his fellow members of the UAH Foundation. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction................................................................................................iii Prologue...................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Sowing The Seeds Of A University......................... 1 Chapter Two: The Arsenal Alters A Region’s Direction.............9 Chapter Three: The Foundation Sinks Its Roots........................ 21 Chapter Four: The Boom Of The Early ‘60s................................ 43 Chapter Five: The Birth Of The University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation............................................................................63 Chapter Six: Growth Takes A Breather......................................... 81 Chapter Seven: The Foundation Board During The Graves Y ears..........................................................................................................111 Chapter Eight: UAH Makes The “W right” M ove....................129 Chapter Nine: A New Direction For The Foundation..............153 Chapter Ten: The Franz Years—Recovery And Growth........ 157 Appendix A: Alphabetical List of UAH Foundation Board M embers...................................................................................................197 Appendix B: Founder Biographical Sketches............................201 Index..........................................................................................................241 Footnotes...................................................................................................249 Introduction The pages that follow chronicle the creation, evolution, and multifaceted impact of the University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation (UAHF). They trace the growth of the city of Huntsville and the area surrounding it as an internationally acclaimed center for research and development in science, engineering, and technology. They describe the concurrent evolution of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) as the pre-eminent academic center in Alabama for research in engineering, physical science, environmental science, and computational science. They recount the seminal contributions that the UAH Foundation, and the outstanding men and women who have constituted its members, has made in helping to make some very good things to happen in Huntsville, Alabama. The UAHF is a rarity among university-related foundations in that the UAHF existed even before the university it now serves was created. The chapters that follow detail how Huntsville leaders came together to form the predecessor of the UAHF as a land- holding operation supporting the orderly development of Cummings Research Park, of which UAH occupies the easternmost extremity. Later chapters describe how the UAHF gradually took on greater and greater responsibility for the support of UAH itself, becoming, ultimately, UAH’s independent, university-related foundation. From its inception, the UAH Foundation has captured the attention and support of many of Huntsville’s leading citizens. Descriptions of the individual members of the original Foundation are presented as an Appendix to this history; a list of all past and present members is also provided. These men and women have brought independent wisdom, insight, critique, and advice to the operation of the University. They have brought substantial financial support as well. Indeed, the UAHF and its members have supplied continuing support, and made crucial investments in UAH at particularly critical times in UAH’s history. The Foundation provided more than a million dollars to secure expert legal assistance when the University’s very existence was being challenged in a long-lasting Title VI lawsuit. The Foundation has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for scholarships for outstanding students from local area high schools, and for unrestricted support for University academic and athletic programs. The Foundation underwrote part of the cost of UAH’s first residence hall, and of its second, and of its third, assisted by a million-dollar gift by Foundation member John Hendricks. iv Mrs. Susie Hudson, wife of Foundation member Jim Hudson, gave more than a million dollars to assist in the development of UAH’s Fraternity and Sorority Row. Foundation member Mark Smith and Foundation member-to-be Linda Smith made a similar gift in support of the project. Foundation member Olin King arranged a multi-million dollar gift/purchase of a 140,000 sq. ft. building from the then SCI Corporation to UAH to ultimately yield the facility now known as Olin B. King Technology Hall. Foundation member Gene Sapp later helped the University to acquire an additional structure and additional adjacent land through a subsequent gift/purchase. Mr. King also contributed $2 million of the value of the UAH building now known as Shelbie King Hall. Foundation member Tony Chan and Foundation member-to-be Kathy Chan have had a long history of providing UAH with grants from the Pei Ling Chan Trust, as well as personal gifts, that are in excess of a million dollars. Foundation member Robert Heath contributed more than three million dollars toward the gift/purchase of the facility that became the original core of the National Space Science and Technology Center and the Robert (Bud) Cramer Research Hall. v The UAH Foundation and its members contribute far more than financial support to UAH. They bring expertise, experience, and advice on matters of common concern and interest. They help to develop understanding and appreciation for UAH within the community at large, and with officials at local, state, and federal levels. They are among the University’s prime advocates and most persuasive ambassadors. They have played key roles in helping to create the highly regarded, highly diverse, student-friendly, research intensive university that UAH now has become. Their continued support promises an even brighter UAH future. This document is a testament to the vision, dedication, and generosity of the leadership and members of the UAH Foundation and the many signal UAH successes they have helped to create. Frank Franz President, UAH, 1991-2007 President Emeritus, Professor of Physics Emeritus vi Prologue In every community’s history, there are moments and choices that forever shape its future. For some communities, those choices have been ruinous, relegating them to dismal fortunes that seem to inextricably spiral downward. For other communities, luck and good judgment have created opportunities that bear unlikely fruit and set new directions. Huntsville, Alabama found itself at a crossroad mid-way through the last century, when opportunity knocked hard at its front door. In 1949, Huntsville was the thirteenth largest Alabama city, outranked by Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Anniston, Selma, Gadsden, Dothan, Florence, Decatur, Phenix City, and Tuscaloosa. Madison County was the seventh most populous Alabama county, behind Jefferson, Mobile, Montgomery, Calhoun, Etowah, and Tuscaloosa Counties. The city’s population stood at 16,406; the county’s at 73,032. Huntsville and Madison County’s economies were unspectacular in perhaps every regard. Its surviving cotton mills were marginally performing. The end of World War II had prompted the closure of the area’s largest employer, one of Huntsville’s two U.S. Army Arsenals. vii Fast forward to 2005: Huntsville’s population outstrips all but three other Alabama cities and Madison County’s population ranks third. In terms of “place of employment” Madison County ranks behind only Jefferson County in the state. Why has Huntsville prospered as other Alabama communities have seen their fortunes stall or decline? To be sure, Huntsville was dealt some very lucky and unlikely cards. The fateful decisions to locate two U.S. Army Arsenals in Madison County in 1941 were certainly future-altering opportunities, not

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