Cornell president to step down next year

Cornell University President Frank Rhodes announced last Thursday that he will step down from his post next year, after 17 years of serving as president of the Ivy League's largest university. Rhodes is the third Ivy League president to step down in the last year. And although Rhodes, 67, announced his intention to retire, he will not step down until June 30, 1995, allowing the school a little over a year to find a replacement. After serving as a Geology professor, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts at the University of Michigan, Rhodes became Cornell's ninth president on Nov. 10,1977. "He's had a tremendous impact on Cornell," said Larry Palmer, Cornell's associate vice president for academic affairs. "Without his vision and ability to carry out difficult projects, Cornell would be a completely different place." Rhodes has served two years past Cornell's age of retirement, staying on to complete several projects and guide Cornell through "the current period of financial stress which is affecting all of higher education," he wrote in a letter to Cornell Board of Trustees Chairperson Stephen Weiss. According to Palmer, Cornell has renovated almost all of its buildings during Rhodes' term as president, and constructed a new library, theatre and fieldhouse. At the moment, Rhodes is presiding over Cornell's $1.25 billion capital campaign, which recently passed the one billion mark four months ahead of schedule. "He's extremely well-liked by the students, and a great fund-raiser," added Palmer, who announced his intention to resign and return to teaching last month. However, Rhodes has had his share of controversy over his 17 years as president. On the day of his inaugural address, students from the Minority Student Coalition and Financial Aid Project, protesting scholarships based on academic merit, walked out during Rhodes' speech with raised fists. And most recently, in November, Latino students, angry over the defacing of a Hispanic artist's outdoor exhibit on campus, took over the third floor of an administrative building. Interim President Claire Fagin, however, described Rhodes as a model Ivy League president, saying it was "a privilege to know him." "When a president is responsible for as much as Frank Rhodes, he brings a lot of respect to a university," Fagin added. "He was an exemplary president." Rhodes and his wife, Rosa, plan to stay in Ithaca after he retires, and Rhodes plans to work on several books, including two about geology.

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