Dr. 弗雷德里克·P. 惠登1963 - 1998

弗雷德里克·P. 惠登:一个有远见的领导者帮助一个地区转型

在30岁的时候. 弗雷德里克·帕尔默·惠登来到莫比尔领导一个小前哨 阿拉巴马大学的教授.  仅仅三年后，他就帮助创办了一家机构 that would become the region’s dominant force in higher education, forever transforming the education, healthcare, economy and quality of life of the people of the upper 墨西哥湾沿岸.

A native of Newville in southeast Alabama, Whiddon came to Mobile from Athens College at a time of rising concern in the area about the vacuum in public higher education.

The upper 墨西哥湾沿岸 region was fertile ground — an area with a large population on the brink of industrial expansion and less than stellar per capita higher educational 成就，主要是由于缺乏进入公立四年制大学的机会. Whiddon wasted little time in working with community leadership to attempt to expand the University 阿拉巴马移动中心的一个完整的分校.

When he was unable to gain traction with the contemporary powers in place at the University of Alabama, despite enthusiastic local support, Whiddon put his energy toward the creation of a new state university, the first new public university in Alabama in 将近70年.

The path to the 十大玩彩信誉平台 was strewn with numerous opportunities 放弃事业. 障碍总是与金钱有关. 但惠登下定了决心， and his shared vision with the community led to the creation of the University of 1963年5月，阿拉巴马州立法机关通过了一项法案.

10月. 18, he was unanimously selected as USA’s first president by the 校董会, 33岁成为全国最年轻的大学校长.

“I had my briefcase, some legal pads, a few pencils and a borrowed desk, walked around town looking for office space, put an ad in the paper for a secretary, rented an old 商业街办公楼. 路易斯街

According to Stewart’s account, a citizen leadership group — the Mobile County Foundation for Public Higher Education — laid the groundwork for USA, but someone with a special vision and determination, such as Whiddon, was needed for such a bold undertaking 成功.

Whiddon, who majored in English and philosophy at Birmingham-南ern College before 接收Ph值.D. 在埃默里大学获得哲学学位和神学学位 not from Mobile, noted Stewart, and “perhaps that is just what Mobile needed most, 有眼光的新人. 惠登有结交朋友的能力 with and 招募大量的横截面 business, industrial, professional 以及这个古老而保守的城市的公民领导.”

Though there were naysayers along the way regarding the likelihood of a four-year public university in Mobile, Whiddon and his able allies within the city’s business and political hierarchy prevailed, securing an initial state appropriation of $509,000. From that modest first appropriation and a single building, within 15 years, the University had an annual state appropriation of $20 million to support numerous colleges on a 600英亩的校园，布鲁克利球场的第二校区和一所医学院.

A common theme throughout the early days was the young president’s tenacity, which, time and again, paid dividends for the 十大玩彩信誉平台 and the citizens 它.

For instance, USA reached a critical juncture in its history in 1965, when the University was allocated a paltry $1 million from a $116 million state education bond issue. Some $50 million was designated for higher education, with two-thirds going to the 阿拉巴马大学和奥本大学. 惠登拒绝在提案上签字， 相信这样做将永远“使美国变得无足轻重”.惠登和地区议员 美国能谈判到3美元吗.500万年. 或许同样重要的是， 战斗的决心在未来的立法会议上得到了回报.

韦登一直在想莫比尔需要一所医学院. 再次,社区 领导人集会. 学校收购了流动综合医院，并设有教学点 facility secured, the first class of 25 medical students began its studies in January 1973.

USA may have begun small, but its growth under the first president was explosive.

By the time Whiddon retired in 1998, USA was a major teaching, research and healthcare force with nine schools and colleges, a hospital system and an enrollment that topped 12,000. 在惠登的任期内，哈佛大学授予了4万个学位 the region’s economy and workforce and attaining its founders’ goal of expanding access 接受高等教育.

还有，来自惠登大学的一份承诺. 1964年18日，大学落成典礼致辞 见过. 

“We dedicate our efforts to those high purposes for which it is founded: to the banishment of ignorance, to the enrichment of personal life, to the development of those individual talents and skills that will enable each person who studies within these walls of our University to serve to the fullest the needs of his fellow man,” Whiddon said. “This, then, is our pledge to the citizens of this state, of this country, indeed 对人类. 如果我们要实现希望和信念，我们就不能做不到这一点 of those who worked without stint to establish the 十大玩彩信誉平台.”