During his fourteen-year tenure as president of the University of Toledo, William S. Carlson played a pivotal role in shaping UT into the institution it is today. More than any other president in the institution’s history, Dr. Carlson presided over monumental change. According to those who knew him and from his own words revealed in his many speeches, he did so with intelligence, insight, and idealism. And despite the pressure of leading a university that tripled in size, he remained a scholar, researching and writing about subjects ranging from the role of a municipal university to Arctic geology.
Dr. Carlson was appointed president of the University of Toledo in 1958, inheriting significant financial problems. UT had run a large deficit and on May 14, 1959, it lost a bid for partial state support. Carlson quickly helped convince Toledo voters to pass a two-mill operating levy on October 6, 1959, which kept UT solvent.
After the election President Carlson began to focus on raising the academic standards of UT. He introduced a university-wide honors program in February 1962 and then brought the College of Law to full-time status in June 1963, which led to its accreditation in 1968. Carlson also arranged joint graduate programs with Bowling Green State University and helped many UT departments begin master and doctoral programs. These changes helped to demonstrate to the Ohio General Assembly that UT was ready to become a state university. After much campaigning Carlson was finally successful: UT became a state school on July 1, 1967.
State support brought much physical development to the campus. In all, fifteen buildings were completed and three more started during Carlson’s tenure. Of the completed were the Student Union, the Engineering Science Building, Carter Hall and Snyder Memorial, the Biology/ Chemistry building, Parks Tower, and
six buildings on the Scott Park campus. Among those started included the new Library building.
In 1971, President Carlson announced his retirement. He was the first UT president to retire from office. He officially stepped aside in 1972, during the University’s centennial.
“Experiment and explore – these should be the watchwords if we are to keep pace with a changing world.”
William S. Carlson
Inaugural address
June 13, 1959
Exhibits
Top Shelf: From inauguration to state university transition
Skip to: Middle Shelf Bottom Shelf
Newspaper article and correspondence regarding Carlson’s selection as university president (1958) and Inaugural speech (1959)
Carlson arrived in Toledo in August 1958 to assume the top administrator’s position, as the 10th president of the University of Toledo. He was officially inaugurated during commencement ceremonies on June 13, 1959, accepting the charge “to preserve and protect the high integrity of the University of Toledo.”
The University of Toledo achieves state status (1967)
Carlson achieved much during his tenure as president, including raising academic standards and improving student relations during a time of war and unrest. Among his most significant accomplishments, however, was securing full state support, and long and hard-fought battle.
Middle shelf: Carlson and the New University Library (1963-1972)
Carlson recognized the need for expansion of the library and recruited members of the university community to consider future needs as early as 1963, years before ground broke on the new building. In 1972, at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, a resolution was passed, formally naming the library after the 10th president. He had announced his retirement in October 1971 and was set to depart the university in September 1972. He returned to campus for the library’s dedication in November 1973, when his presidential portrait was unveiled.
Bottom Shelf: Retirement of William S. Carlson (1972)
Carlson retired in 1972, the year of the University of Toledo’s centennial. He was the first president to retire from the university and the longest-serving president at 14 years. Considered a champion of faculty and student rights, Carlson was honored by the university community, receiving upon his retirement both emeritus status and recognition from the student body for his participation in student affairs.
Poster right of the display cabinet
Made by students at the University of Toledo, this humorous poster recognized President Carlson's extraordinary dedication and accomplishments.
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