Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993 TAG: 9312100371
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Nine days before the formal application deadline, a committee searching for Virginia Tech's new president put down the confidential folders.
Why look further? The right man already was sitting in the corner office at Burruss Hall.
So it was that a much-anticipated appointment came Thursday: Paul Torgersen, widely respected as an engineer, academic fund-raiser and professor, was named Tech's 14th president at a specially called meeting of the board of visitors.
Torgersen, acting president since Oct. 1, was the only candidate interviewed for the job. Vice Rector Henry Dekker, who headed the committee that unanimously recommended Torgersen to the board, said there was no reason to continue the search because the in-house candidate, with 27 years at Tech, had all the qualifications the committee sought.
"We had a man who was eminently qualified, knows Virginia Tech like the back of his hand and is a great educator. We felt we should move ahead," Dekker said.
The dean of the College of Engineering for 20 years, Torgersen is widely credited with helping put the college on the academic map. He has received numerous teaching awards, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, helped develop the engineering Graduate Record Exam and has authored or co-authored five books.
Torgersen also is an avid tennis player, sharing courts in seniors tournaments around the country. He has been married to his wife, Dorothea, for 39 years; and one of his three children, daughter Karen, works downstairs from him in Tech's admissions office.
In a statement after his appointment, Torgersen spoke of economic and technological changes in the world and said the university needs to evolve, too.
Nevertheless, "There are some truths, some values, some beliefs that are bedrocks and not influenced by forces outside the university. There is no compromise on issues of academic quality, academic integrity, or on the fundamental freedoms of teaching and research," he said.
Torgersen saluted his predecessor, James McComas, who resigned in September after being diagnosed with cancer. During the university's last presidential search, in 1988, the two men were finalists for the job.
By appointing Torgersen now, rather than waiting for the original April 24 appointment date, the board gives him presidential clout as he visits key legislators on behalf of Tech. As a bonus, the board saves $200,000 for the private Virginia Tech Foundation, which would have paid for the search, and avoids the possibility of a politically divisive search, Dekker said.
With state budget cuts of 10 percent or more possible, Torgersen has spent the past seven weeks calling on legislators, the first time in years that Tech's top administrator has done that.
He is enjoying his mission. "It's like old-home week," he said, as he has worked with many senior legislators over his long years at the university.
Described as a good leader, Torgersen should do for the university what he did for the College of Engineering, said Ray Martin, who led a lobbying effort on behalf of Torgersen's appointment.
"He's a good guy and he lets people do what they can do, rather than try to micromanage things," said Martin, head of the Committee of 100, a group of prominent engineering alumni.
Washington and Lee University President John Wilson, former Tech provost, said he was "`delighted" with Torgersen's appointment. He hoped the new president would have time to teach the class he was scheduled to instruct next semester.
"He enjoys students, but you're traveling a lot [as president]. That's what makes it hard to teach," he said. "I'll wish him well on that."
Meanwhile, at home in Blacksburg, Dorothea Torgersen said she watched her husband abandon his initial, lukewarm feelings about being president.
"As he got involved, he really got into this and his adrenaline started flowing," she said. "I think you get caught up in it all."
\ PAUL TORGERSEN\ \ Age: 62.\ \ Education: B.A., Lehigh University; M.A. and Ph.D., Ohio State University. Career: Faculty member, Ohio State and Oklahoma State universities. Appointed head of Tech's department of industrial engineering in 1967; dean, College of Engineering, 1970-1990; interim Tech president, 1988; interim vice president for the office of development and university relations, 1992.\ \ Awards: National Academy of Engineering; Benjamin G. Lamme Meritorious Achievement Medal from Ohio State; Sporn Award, given by Tech engineering students "in recognition of excellence in teching of engineering subjects"; and many others.\ \ Personal: Married 39 years to his wife, Dorothea. Three children, six grandchildren.
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB