President Arend D. Lubbers announced today that he will retire on June 30, 2001, bringing to a close an era of leadership that began in 1968, when he was named president of what was then Grand Valley State College. His is the current longest university presidency in the nation.
Lubbers made his intentions known before an overflow audience of students, faculty, and staff gathered in the Cook-DeWitt Center on the Allendale Campus. The speech was also presented live on the university's Web site.
As Grand Valley president, Lubbers has led the university's evolution from a small, liberal arts college to a regional university. Since 1982, GVSU has been Michigan's fastest growing university, with a current enrollment of 18,579.
The Richard M. DeVos Center, on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus, is the latest example of the university's physical growth under Lubbers. An array of academic buildings and residence halls in Allendale, the creation of the Meijer Campus in Holland, and the 1988 opening of the Eberhard Center in Grand Rapids all occured during the Lubbers presidency. The university has also extended its service with programs in Muskegon and Traverse City, in cooperation with local community colleges.
Lubbers has guided the university's response to regional education needs with the establishment of the Seidman School of Business, the Kirkhof School of Nursing, and the Schools of Education, Social Work, Health Sciences, Engineering, and Communication. Also during his tenure, GVSU's programs in music, art, chemstry, education, social work, business, and nursing have earned professional accreditations.
He initiated the Washington Campus program for students and corporate managers to understand and work effectively with federal agencies; twelve other universities nationwide participate in this program. He also initiated an International Studies program that includes exchanges in foreign studies in Poland, Yugoslavia, Austria, Italy, France, England, Spain, and Taiwan.
Lubbers is just the second Grand Valley president. The late James Zumberge was named president when Grand Valley was chartered, and held the post until 1968. Zumberge went on to become president of the University of Southern California.
Lubbers came to Grand Valley from Central College, in Pella, Iowa, where he had served as president for nine years. At the time of his appointment to that position, Lubbers was the youngest college president in the country, at 29. In 1962, Life magazine named him to its list of the top 100 young men under 40 in the United States.
He is a native of Holland, Michigan, and a graduate of Hope College, where his father, Erwin Lubbers, served as president. He received his master's degree in history from Rutgers University in 1956, and then taught at Wittenberg College in Ohio before returning to Rutgers in 1958 to pursue his doctorate.
The GVSU Board of Control met immediately following Lubbers' retirement announcement to accept his retirement and discuss plans to find his successor. Board Chairwoman Donna Brooks said the Board will next meet on October 6 to begin the process of finding the next GVSU president.
