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Tuesday, July 05, 2005 UNI's fifth president, J.W. Maucker, dead at age of 92 CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The man who spent two decades at the helm of the University of Northern Iowa, receiving among his numerous honors, a national award for his stance on academic freedom, has died in Cedar Falls.
Photo of President J.W. Maucker available at: http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/maucker.jpg
J.W. "Bill" Maucker, 92, died Tuesday, July 5 at Sartori Memorial Hospital. Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, July 8, at Nazareth Lutheran Church, South Main Street and University Avenue, in Cedar Falls. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, July 7, at Richardson Funeral Home, 615 Main St., Cedar Falls. Memorials may be made to the UNI Foundation or Nazareth Lutheran Church.
Born in Rock Island, Ill., Sept. 16, 1912, Maucker was a 1933 graduate of Augustana College, where he received an A.B. degree. He received a master of arts degree in 1936 and a Ph.D. degree in 1940, both from the University of Iowa, where he also worked as a graduate assistant in education.
He served in the St. Louis and Pittsburgh public schools, the University of Missouri and Montana State University, the U.S. Office of Education in Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel, before becoming the fifth president of UNI, then Iowa State Teachers College, in 1950, at the age of 38. He was one of the youngest college presidents in the Midwest at the time of his appointment.
During his tenure, the enrollment grew from 2,688 to 9,496, curricular offerings were extensively revamped and the college was changed from an emphasis strictly on teacher education to the provision of degrees in the liberal and vocational arts.
As the college expanded, the name was changed from ISTC to State College of Iowa, in 1961, and then, in 1967, following a reorganization of the instructional, as well as administrative structure of the college, the name was changed to the University of Northern Iowa.
In 1968, Maucker received the 10th Alexander Meiklejohn Award for academic freedom from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). His name was placed in nomination for the award independently by five Iowa chapters of the AAUP. Members of the UNI chapter voted unanimously for his nomination, in support of Maucker's actions following the controversy that followed UNI English instructor Edward Hoffmans' advocacy of civil disobedience toward the draft in an article in the UNI student newspaper.
The question of freedom of speech and the question of whether a university professor should be discharged from his position because of advocating civil disobedience in an article in the student newspaper stirred a controversy both on and off campus.
In answer to critics who demanded Hoffmans' dismissal, Maucker issued his statement of freedom of expression at UNI, in which he said, "I believe the most important thing at stake in this instance is the maintenance of freedom of thought and expression in the university community. It is for educational reasons essentially that such freedom must be maintained -- so that ideas freely expressed may freely compete, stimulating thought and analysis by students and faculty…
"It is not enough merely to tolerate provocative ideas -- the university is obligated actively to encourage the free exchange of ideas…
"The overriding responsibility of the university is, of course, to provide effective instruction. Hence, it is the unique responsibility of the university to judge Mr. Hoffmans essentially as a teacher of composition," Maucker said.
"If it could be demonstrated that he has broken the law by expressing his thoughts, the proper remedy lies with law enforcement agencies and the courts," he said.
In introducing Maucker at the September 1968 Matriculation Convocation, the late William C. Lang, then academic vice president at UNI, said, "President Maucker came to this institution in 1950. It became apparent very early that he was dedicated to those ideals consonant with the finest in the tradition of higher education, indeed with those ideas and ideals that Western man has come to identify not only as significant, but of paramount importance:
"Respect for the individual; his dignity and worth as an individual-- even though all men have shortcomings and defects.
"The desire for justice achieved by due process under law or established rules.
"Faith in the rational process for the resolution of problems, while recognizing its limitations.
"Love of learning and the need to know.
"The inescapable need for the free exchange of ideas and the courage to change.
"The concept of power as a trust to be used in consultation and discussion and with accountability in the use of power to a variety of constituents." Lang concluded that "confronted with the problems of the presidency, he has seized them as opportunities. In the language of our day, if I were to seek to 'tell it like it is,' in spite of the demands of the presidency, 'he has kept the faith.'"
Maucker is survived by his second wife, Doreen Weber Maucker; a daughter, Ann M. King; and two sons, James N. Maucker and Robert W. Maucker.
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