Former University of Miami president Henry King Stanford dead at 92

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Photos by Chelsea Matiash

OPEN DOOR: University president Henry King Stanford holds a forum with students at the Rock on May 12, 1972. Stanford guided the school through the turbulent 1960s and 1970s by maintaining an open door policy with students. UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI ARCHIVE

 

Henry King Stanford, the University of Miami’s third president, died Thursday at age 92.

Stanford, who led the university from 1962 to 1981, oversaw a wide-ranging expansion of the school that had been housed in a renovated apartment building a decade before. By the time Stanford retired, the size of the faculty tripled, federal research funding increased by almost 700 percent, and the number of faculty with doctoral degrees rose from 50 percent to 75 percent.

He is perhaps best known for seeing the school through the late 1960s and early 1970s, a time when many college campus ground to a halt due to Vietnam War protests. Stanford was known for holding forums with students, where disagreements about university policies, including those involving the United States government, were aired publically. No major incidents related to Vietnam protests occured at the university during his tenure.

“Dr. Stanford was deeply beloved by the University community. Many alumni and longtime faculty and staff members have told me about how he would walk around the campus and greet everyone, even during times of student unrest,” current university president Donna E. Shalala said in a statement this morning.
“His enthusiasm for the University was infectious.”

Flags on the Coral Gables campus flew at half-staff on Friday to honor the contributions of Stanford to the university. Stanford is survived by his four children: Henry Stanford, Jr., Lowry Stanford, Rhoda Stanford McCabe, and Peyton Stanford, and a sister, Annabell Nickel. No information about memorial services has been released by the university or the Stanford family.