Dr. E. Arthur Trabant, President, University of Delaware – 4/1/1982

From Focus Delaware 4/1/1982. Hosted by Bob Weiner.

Dr. E. Arthur Trabant 1920 — 2012

Edward Arthur Trabant, the 22nd and 24th president of the University of Delaware, died July 20, 2012, at the Cokesbury Village Health Care Center in Hockessin, Del., after a brief illness. He was 92.

President Trabant’s 19-year, first term, from 1968-1987, was one of the longest presidencies of a major university in modern times. He led the campus through a period of tremendous growth of both the student body and physical plant. Undergraduate enrollment rose from less than 7,500 to more than 15,000, new academic programs were developed and the physical campus grew with the addition of residence halls, classrooms and research buildings.

Concerned with educational opportunities for women, he created a Commission on the Status of Women and an Office of Women’s Affairs. His many accomplishments included the creation of what is now the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, the prestigious Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, the Institute of Energy Conversion, Winter Session, the development of what is now the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the University Honors Program and the forerunner of what is now the Associate in Arts Program.

Among the buildings added to the campus during his tenure are Clayton Hall, Smith Hall, Purnell Hall, Kirkbride Lecture Hall, Willard Hall Education Building, McDowell Hall, Amy E. du Pont Music Building, McKinly Laboratory, Spencer Laboratory, Worrilow Hall, Christiana Towers, Dickinson Residence Hall Complex and the University’s marine studies campus in Lewes, as well as a major addition to the Morris Library.

He also expanded the University’s partnership with state departments, private businesses, research interests and overseas institutions.

In the area of athletics, President Trabant presided during the Title IX years and played a key role as Delaware’s women’s athletics program moved from an experimental program to varsity status in the early 1970s. During his tenure, UD football had 183 wins — the most of any UD president — and three national titles.

He returned to the presidency in 1988, after the resignation of his successor Russel C. Jones. At the conclusion of his second term, in 1990, the University Board of Trustees, named him president emeritus.

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